RWBY: Miranian Wonders
by N-Sight
Summary: Team RWBY has crashed on Mira with the final survivors of Earth. With only themselves and their allies to call upon, they fight for survival on this newly charted planet. How will Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang fare against aliens, old enemies, and dangerous indigenous creatures that threaten to destroy the human race? Rated T for violence, darker themes, and mild language.
1. Prologue

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

 **This story is a journey through the world of Mira, discovering new friends and foes while encountering old opposition as well. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Zweii are the only characters from RWBY who will be allies, while there will be two additional OCs helping Elma and Lin.**

 **Keep in mind that I have been writing this since April of this year, but my writing has gotten better since then. I may have continuity issues, but I've written many chapters in advance. If you don't like where the story is going, you may enjoy a later chapter.**

 **On to the subject of the story-line itself. I will not be focusing on the main story of the game for the entirety of the story, but will instead be including side missions, original circumstances and characters, and even new indigenous beings to tackle. This series is meant to continue on for a while and will be at least 2,000+ words per chapter. Keep in mind that this is based off of my own play-through of Xenoblade Chronicles X as well as my secondary file. I enjoyed the characters and their development and I have a few plans for characters introduced/included in this story.**

 **Enough about that: Let's kick this off.**

* * *

"Attention: Stasis Mode will now be disabled. Engaging Awakening Process."

Ruby realized that she was frozen in a capsule, unable to move her body. She heard the computer's automated voice commands during the defrosting phase, which would allow her to move and exit the pod.

"Ten seconds until capsule opens. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1."

With that, a bright light began to fill Ruby's vision. She instinctively held up her hand to shield her eyes. Her eyesight began to focus as the light was brought away from her face. She saw a woman standing before her, clad in futuristic battle armor. Her long, silver hair had been let out behind her armor, which had been colored red for some obvious reasons. Her eyes were a glowing teal color, which calmed Ruby as she got a good look at them.

Ruby tried to take a step out of the pod, but fatigue took over slightly and she slumped down into the woman's outstretched arms.

"Easy now," she said. "You're not stable enough for battle just yet. Wait a moment for your body to warm up a little."

Ruby nodded slightly as the woman helped her to her feet. Her eyesight had focused a little more, allowing her to see that it was a rainy night. She looked down at herself, examining her attire. She was dressed in a black shirt with short, red sleeves, black pants with about ten pockets, combat boots, and a belt with space for more tools than Batman's belt could hold.

"So far as we know, your pod was one of six that were still intact after landing here in this location. Two were released yesterday, but I've yet to arouse the other, seeing as I came straight here today." Ruby managed to get solid footing as she heard the brief explanation of her whereabouts. The feminine soldier continued.

"My name's Elma. Would you mind telling me yours?"

"Ruby."

"Well, I can see you've been trained in some more advanced combat than I've learned." Elma nodded in the direction of Ruby's weapon, Crescent Rose, which sat in its rifle form in the pod left of where she was moments ago.

"Yeah, I guess. I designed her myself. She's the only scythe for me."

"Wait a minute? That's a scythe?"

Ruby giggled. "It's also a customizable, high-impact sniper rifle."

"So your melee and ranged weapon are one and the same. I think you'll do just fine out here on Planet Mira." Elma paused for a second. "But wait, Sniper Rifle? Those are usually only mastered by Partisan Eagles and Astral Crusaders. How did you get training for such a weapon?"

Ruby cocked her head to one side. "I'm not sure what you mean. I've been trained using Crescent Rose as my standard method of fighting."

Elma shook her head. "And I thought amnesia was harder to deal with. Well, I'm going to need your help awakening the other human from that final pod. Ready to move out?"

Ruby turned and picked up her scythe. "Ready when you are!"

Elma giggled at her new recruit's enthusiasm. "We'll take it easy for now, just to let you get used to moving and allow your body some time to warm up." She turned away and waited for Ruby to join her on the trail.

* * *

Elma stopped and pointed towards a black pod, roughly the size of Ruby's, which lay nearly thirty feet ahead of them. "Here's the last one. I'll open it if you watch our backs. Would you be willing to do that?"

Ruby loaded a cartridge into Crescent Rose. "Yep!"

Elma had reached the pod by this point. She entered her login and password into the terminal. There was a whirring coming from the machine, booting up the systems for releasing the human within. The hatch opened, revealing a young girl, about Ruby's age, with golden hair and gauntlets. She was dressed in a brown prototype shirt, black pants similar to Ruby's, and boots and belt to match Ruby's. Golden bracelets could be seen clasped around the girl's wrists. What Elma was confused by was the skin on the girl's right arm. It was made of a thick durable metal, stained jet black with golden details at the fingertips and joints. What caused such an abnormality in the subject?

Once the girl had steadied herself, Elma filled her in on the information Ruby was told. Upon sharing intel, Elma introduced herself. The girl was going to share her name when Ruby hollered:

"YANG!" She tackled the newcomer to the ground. 'Yang' gave her a hug, still groggy from stasis, but at least she had her whole memory with her.

"Ruby! It's so good to see you, sis!"

"Wait," Elma pondered aloud. "You two are sisters?"

Ruby pulled Yang to her feet. "Yep! Sisters in arms and half by blood."

Yang held up her left arm. "More like sisters in ARM!"

Ruby groaned. "I hate it when you do that. Very punny."

Elma giggled a little at Yang's pun. "Well, this reunion is sweet, but we still have to return to the city. I'll need to-"

Elma was cut off by a loud beeping noise from her pocket. She pulled out her phone and powered it up. A manly voice could be heard over the other end.

"Colonel, we have received word that there are no more lifesigns other than yourself and two others. Are they survivors from your most recent escapade?"

Elma nodded. "I've retrieved the only two survivors from the pods in Starfall Basin. I'll be heading back to NLA if there's nothing else."

"I believe that is all. We will be sending the two newest recruits to meet you outside of the Blade Barracks. Make your way to NLA and we'll get them registered into BLADE's battalion log."

Elma ended the call and turned to Yang. "So, Yang. Can you fight?"

Yang tossed her hair. "Sure I can. Show me your foe and I'll take them out."

Elma decided that she'd offer up the spare weapon she brought, but Yang declined.

"I'll be using the Ember Celica from here on out." she replied.

Elma looked confused, but she simply nodded and turned around and began to lead the way. Ruby ran ahead of her before she could take three steps, cutting her short of being ambushed.

Ruby pushed Elma out of the way as seven large bug-like enemies sprung up and landed where Elma was standing a moment ago. The beetle-shaped inhabitants knelt down and buzzed their wings in anger. They began to form a ring around the humans as their buzzing began to slowly die down.

Yang nodded towards Ruby, who drew Crescent Rose from its clip on her back and switched it to scythe mode. Yang threw her arms downward as her golden bracelets extended into full-sized gauntlets that covered her lower arms, locking into combat mode. Elma was taken aback at what she had just seen: the speed at which Ruby ran; Yang's weapons and their sheathed form; Ruby's scythe mode. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before.

Yang charged towards two that were about to pounce on Elma. She fired off a round of her shotgun gauntlets, thrusting herself into the air above the beetles. Twisting in the air, she unleashed a spray of four blasts, burning the wings and piercing the shell of the insects. One more blast aimed skyward was all Yang needed to hurtle towards a third one behind the pair of dead pests. She slammed her Ember Celica into its face, blasting through it and hollowing it out with one punch.

Ruby spun her scythe around her clockwise as one insect leaped for her. Spinning it counter-clockwise allowed her to eliminate another pouncing on her from behind. She twirled Crescent Rose upward in front of her and back around behind her, slashing through a third beetle and stabbing a fourth one's head. She fired off a round, exploding the shell and sending the insides of the beetle in every direction.

Elma wiped the cyan goop off of her chin. "I guess I'll be needing your help in getting back to the city. I'll lead you onward, but I'll leave you two to defend yourselves if needed."

Ruby and Yang sheathed their weapons. Ruby curtsied, not something she usually did, and replied, "After you, tour guide."

Yang followed close behind Elma, high-fiving her sister as she passed. Ruby held up the back, keeping a close eye on the rear, ready for if any more indigenous lifeforms tried another ambush. Elma lead them out of the small canyon they were in and out to a large cliffside.

Elma called for them to halt, noting that the fog was clearing and the sun was rising. Ruby watched with intent as the landscape began to slowly wake up and reveal its beauty to them. She was astounded by the sizes of the beasts that woke up and stretched out. Four gigantic, Brachiosaurus-like monsters reached down for water from the streams below. Wolf-like monsters ran in packs, racing each other across the fields and rocks. A few other types reminded her of otters leaping into a lake. She gasped in awe and wonder, unsure of what other mind boggling sights there were to be had.

"The view of Beacon's got nothin' on this." Yang commented. "I've never seen such a beautiful landscape."

Elma sighed with slight joy. "And it's only going to get better."

Ruby looked forward and saw a huge structure off in the distance. On its side was written: "United States".

Yang pointed to it. "Is that where we're headed?"

Elma nodded. "It's our home here on this planet. We've taken shelter here from the wild on Planet Mira by utilizing what we can from the habitat unit of the ship."

Ruby stepped towards the cliff, but Elma held out her arm. "I wouldn't jump if I were you."

Yang scoffed. "If you're worried about the fall, we'll use our landing strategies to get down safely."

Elma shook her head. "It's not the fall I'm cautious about, it's the creatures down there. They'd be more aggressive towards you than those on the high road. Still, I'll let you two decide."

Ruby and Yang decided that they wouldn't push their luck much further, so the high road was their method of travel.

* * *

Upon reaching the gate to the city, Elma held up their progress. "We've got company."

As she said this, three wolf-like creatures leapt off of their perches on higher rocks to ambush the party. All three humans drew their weapons, each ready to take on a beast and take it out quickly.

"We need to take these out now: don't let them get to the city!" Elma shouted.

Ruby jumped over the first Grex and slashed off its tail. It howled in pain as it brought its paw down onto her leg, holding her in place. Elma shot at its paw, knocking it over and forcing it off of Ruby. Ruby rolled under the beast and brought her scythe across its belly, opening the monster's stomach and spewing a yellow liquid across the ground.

Yang had already smashed the head of a second Grex and was on her way to punching another one in the face. She waited for the wolf-like beast to move its head down close to her. When it did, she uppercutted its jaw with her right, fired her left Ember Celica downward which forced her upward, and swung her right punch upward, sending the Grex flying and yelling out: "KIDO YASHI!"

When she landed, she retracted her gauntlets and brushed back her hair. Ruby dropped her scythe and Elma lost her grip on her guns. Yang chuckled a little before asking Elma, "Are we going in?"

Elma nodded and they all began walking towards the large staircase near the sealed entrance. They climbed it quickly, reaching the top in record time. Elma lead them into the city to a balcony from where they could see the city. Elma stopped at the railing and brushed back a stray strand of hair.

"Welcome to NLA, the last city from earth. We got its name from the city it was modeled after on back on earth: Los Angeles. Here, we are the last of the human race, surviving this world's dangers and living together in harmony."

Ruby and Yang stood in awe of the size and breadth of the city. It was larger than any other they'd seen back on Remnant. The largest tower must have been almost a thousand feet tall. Helicopters and cars were rushing around and trucks were delivering supplies across the city. Robots with huge construction gear were moving stacks of metallic frames and larger construction equipment. Giant cranes stood on the wall of the city, their hooks in position and their operators inspecting the mechanisms. Just from looking around, both Ruby and Yang could tell that this was truly the start of another grand life on a new planet.

* * *

 **N-Sight: Well, we're finished with the introduction.**

 **Emm: I feel cheated.**

 **N-Sight: That this chapter was so short?**

 **Emm: No, that we aren't shown in this chapter.**

 **N-Sight: We'll show up later. Don't worry about it.**

 **Emm: I get the feeling we're side-characters.**

 **N-Sight: You're imagining things.**

 **Emm: When's the next chapter?**

 **N-Sight: New Years Day.**

 **Emm: I'll be there.**


	2. Entering New Los Angeles

**HAPPY NEW YEAR! Thanks for waiting. Let's gets started.**

* * *

Elma led Ruby and Yang over to an elevator that took them to the lower levels. Elma activated the lift and they descended down to the main level of the city. As the lift took them downward, the tower in the center of the city changed from a countdown timer to a screen of a control room with a man in a tan suit, looking directly at the camera filming him. The caption beneath him read: "Maurice Chausson, Director General."

He spoke to the camera as if he was giving a speech. "Brave citizens of New LA. I come to you today bringing tidings of good news. Today, ten more white whale crew members were repatriated into our fine city. These fellow pioneers will become a valuable asset to our grand city and will bring unique skills with them. Our city will begin to flourish more rapidly and grow more stable as a result of these members' addition to our cause. I encourage you all to treat them as one of your own and help them feel at home here in our city, and to help them adjust to life here on Mira. This, of course, is just one of our latest successes that I bring to you today…."

As his speech continued, the elevator reached the bottom of the lift. Elma lead them to a clearer view of the tower.

Yang scratched her head. "Who's the political icon?"

Elma crossed her arms. "He is Maurice Chausson, leader of our city. But when was he given the title 'Director General'?"

A voice from behind them spoke in turn. "It happened two days ago, Ma'am."

As the three turned to the new feminine voice, a more masculine voice piped in. "From 'Political Aide' to 'Director General' in less than two weeks. If this keeps up, he'll be crowned 'Emperor' by next Friday and 'Imperator' by the end of the month."

Elma smiled slightly. "Irina, Gwinn, good to see you two again."

Irina and Gwinn saluted her. "Nice work out there, Ma'am," Irina followed up with Elma's acknowledgment.

Ruby tapped her foot, nervously. "Not to be rude, but who are these soldiers of yours?"

Elma shook her head. "You could say, 'Colleagues' to be more accurate. Meet Irina Akulov and Gwinn Evans."

Ruby waved and Yang extended her right hand. "My name's Yang Xiao Long! This is my sister, Ruby Rose!"

Irina took Yang's hand and shook it. "A pleasure. Are you two of the new survivors?"

Elma corrected her. "The only two. They were the result of the only two intact pods in Starfall Basin."

Gwinn frowned. "Wait, what happened to '10 more crew members'?"

Irina scoffed. "C'mon, seriously? Chausson was never one to let the details get in the way of a good speech. I'm not all that surprised by this." She turned back to Yang. "Still, every set of hands counts, no matter how big or small. I'm with the Interceptors. Call me Irina."

Gwinn grinned a little. "Same here, but call me Mr. Evans! Or just Gwinn."

Ruby muttered to herself. "Almost like 'Crater Face' from Beacon."

Yang nudged her sister. "I heard that, and Jaune only teased you with that name!"

Gwinn wondered what they were talking about. "Wait, why 'Crater Face'?"

Ruby shook her head. "The shortest way to explain it is that when I sneezed on my first day at Beacon Academy, I exploded a hole in the school grounds."

Gwinn smiled mischievously. "Gotcha, Crater Face!"

Ruby looked a little red in the face at that comment, but on the inside, she was throwing a fit about mentioning the nickname. Yang turned her attention to Elma. "So, why Ma'am?"

Elma shook her head. "I wish they wouldn't do this. We served in the militia on Earth and on the White Whale, specifically the Exoskeleton Unit. I was a Colonel, Irina a lieutenant, and Gwin was our more recent recruit. I keep telling them we don't need these old accolades anymore."

Irina placed her fist above her hip. "Nonsense. It's not about a title. It's all about respect. I can vouch for your right to it. You definitely worked for it."

"And the award for the best kiss-up goes to…." Gwinn shut his mouth as Irina glared at him.

Elma continued on. "Anyway, I need to take our new recruits to the BLADE Barracks before register them. We'll see you around."

After leaving Irina and Gwinn, the three warriors walked down another staircase towards the cleared streets below. As Ruby's boots hit the sidewalk, a loud POW! coming from the sky captured her attention and set her off balance. Yang looked up to see a robotic figure flying overhead, teetering left and right along its flight path. It jostled around a moment, then part of it exploded, sending it tumbling down from the sky. It landed with a loud CRASH! that shook the ground. Screeching tires could be heard in the opposite direction, followed by a vehicle rushing by. Yang caught sight of the jeep as it passed by. What surprised her was the driver: a 13-year-old girl, by the looks of it. Yang and Ruby ran after the vehicle with Elma dashing after them.

Over at the mech's landing site, the girl from the jeep was looking at her comm device, scanning the mech for irregularities. It appeared that the pilot was furious at her, with his rapid pacing and helmet tossed off to the side. She found what she was looking for: the exhaust intake/bypass valve was in reverse.

"Glad I caught that," she began, about to set about repairs.

"Caught that?" The pilot seemed furious. "You were the one who cleared me for takeoff!"

Elma stopped few feet away. "Off your A-Game, Lin? It's not like you to flub a flight check."

"Maybe so, Elma, but progress on the flight module is getting better," Lin replied. Then she noticed Ruby and Yang. "I take it these are the new recruits?"

Elma nodded. "May I introduce Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long."

Lin grinned. "Nice to meet you two. It's always reassuring to know that there's another survivor among us."

Ruby shook her head. "Wait, 'survivor'?"

Elma looked up slightly towards the sky. "Yes. A human survivor from Earth."

Yang crossed her arms, befuddled by what she just heard. "I'm sorry, but correct me if I'm wrong. You said, 'Earth,' right? You're not from Remnant?"

Now it was Lin's turn to frown. "Yeah. I remember something about additional humans joining us from another place, but not another planet or realm. 'Remnant' doesn't ring any bells here."

Ruby shook her head. "Regardless, I'm curious how a young person like you came to be such a brilliant mechanic."

Lin clasped her hands together. "I almost forgot! I'm Lin Lee Koo! And yes, I look 13 because I am 13."

Elma smirked. "Still, she's one of our top performing Blades and one of our best mechanics."

The pilot scoffed. "All the praise about the women. When do I get my turn?"

Elma shook her head. "Then, by all means, introduce yourself to them."

He shifted his stance to stand more comfortably. "Very well. The name's Doug. I'm one of the top Skell Pilots in BLADE"

Lin grinned. "He's also the bravest out there. None can stand against his courage so easily."

Elma turned to the newcomers. "We'll need to head to BLADE Tower and get you two added into the database, as well as figure out living arrangements."

Yang looked out towards the tower. "Is there a faster way than walking?"

Lin jumped at the thought. "Why don't we take the aerial transport? It's the fastest way to get a full tour of the city!"

Elma smirked again. "Wonderful idea, Lin. Lead the way."

Lin started down the street but stopped after a few steps. "Doug, would you call a crew to pick up the Skell and park it in the hangar? I'll fix the exhaust when I return tomorrow."

Doug groaned. "Fine! I'm just glad that I don't have to fly it or pilot it back with all of those fumes."

Lin strolled on with the other three damsels keeping close behind her. Lin lead them to a parked jet back towards the entrance to the city. Lin gave directions to the pilot and boarded the shuttle. Yang, Ruby, and Elma followed her onto the jet and took seats on either side. The door folded up and the shuttle set off on its leisure flight over the colony. Behind them, the panels of the wall lit up to show the city below and the sky around them. Ruby was reminded of the flight to Beacon Academy, looking out and seeing the city in the sunset's golden light. The lights of the city slowly began to turn on as the night drew closer. Lin decided on the express tour of the city, just hitting the highlights of the city.

"We departed from the Industrial District, where the West Gate is located. In it, all manner of factories and test hangers are placed to manufacture and test all of the weapons, gear, structural materials, and devices at a safe location while leaving room for the citizens to live. On our right, the Commercial District. It's the home to the best, and only, bargains on the planet. Baristas, restaurants, apparel boutiques and tech-savvy appliance stores are all found here. Off to our left is the Residential District. Housing, housing, housing, and more housing. Don't forget about the park and the cathedral. If you need a spot to zone out and relax during the day, that's the place to be. And finally, our destination: the Administrative District. Home to BLADE Tower and our central government. We'll be resting at the barracks on the other side from where we land."

A moment later, the plane landed on the platform in front of BLADE Tower. The four of them stepped out onto the helipad and walked off to the northern side of the building. They passed by an armor vending machine and a weapons distributor. Ruby almost lost herself in the advanced weaponry, but Yang pulled her aside.

"We'll have time to look around later. Let's just figure out what's going on."

They followed Elma and Lin into a building behind the tower. The sign above it read: 'Barracks.' Upon entry, the two newcomers were welcomed by a familiar voice.

"About time you returned! Blake took a catnap and I was wondering where you vanished to."

A figure walked around the corner, dressed in white armor with a laser sword clipped to her belt. Two psycho launchers were clipped to her back, designed to blend in with her thin armor. Her white hair was longer than Elma's and her skin was paler. Her beautiful image was marred by the scar over her left eye. Before she got her answer, she was immediately hugged by Ruby.

"Weiss! It's really you!" Ruby clung tightly to her partner.

Weiss hugged back. "Ruby, I'm glad you're okay."

Yang had already moved on to the sleeping figure on the couch around the corner. She was dressed in a black shirt, black pants and belt to match Yang's, and had two guns and two swords clipped to her back. Her black bow was still perched on her head, hiding her cat ears from view. Her hands were curled up in front of her like a Neko's, facing outwards and by her chin.

Yang placed her palm on the sleep Faunus' shoulder. Blake's eyes opened slowly, revealing her golden amber pupils to her teammate. She braced herself as Yang hugged her tightly, smiling upon realising who it was.

"What's up, Blake?"

Blake winced at the embrace. "Hey there, Yang."

"Miss me?"

"You bet," Blake then noticed her arm. "Where did the arm come from?"

"I don't really know." Yang turned it over twice. "Regardless, I don't feel any different with the arm's weight or composition, so I'm not letting it bother me."

Blake squeezed tighter, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

Elma just stared as the four friends hugged out their worries. She had never seen such care for someone so dear. She felt comforted inside, like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

Lin, on the other hand, was interested in how the team knew each other. "You four know each other?"

Ruby let go of Wiess. "Yeah, we kind of went to the same academy."

Weiss cut in at this point. "Beacon Academy was our home and our source of experience in combat. It's only through Beacon that we were grouped up together for our classes and training."

Elma broke out of her temporary trance. "We found Weiss last week on monday and Blake was awakened last friday. It's outstanding that you four know each other from before Mira. Team cooperation, both internal and external, is the key to our survival."

Yang and Blake got up off of the couch. Yang posed her thoughts aloud. "So, how do we get started in BLADE?"

Elma crossed her arms. It's not an easy process, but I'll fill out the paperwork for you two. It may take about a day or two, but…"

The door to the barracks opened and a well dressed man walked in. "I heard the last section of your conversation, Elma. I'll cover the paperwork on my end so you can help with their training on Frontier Nav."

Elma nodded. "Right… I should introduce you. This is Secretary Nagi. He is in charge of all operations that BLADE handles. This is Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long, the two newest recruits."

Nagi nodded and shook Ruby's hand. "The pleasure is all mine. From what Elma has told me, you two know how to handle yourselves in a fight."

Yang came forward and shook Nagi's hand. Nagi winced a little at the strength the blonde expressed. When he pulled back, he posed the question no one was ready to hear, but excited Ruby beyond her wildest dreams.

"Elma, would you get our new recruits some upgraded weapons?"

* * *

 **Did this answer your questions? Maybe, but I'll be able to answer the three questions from Novice4129 more clearly down here.**

 **1) Are Remnant and Earth two separate beings?**

 **Yes, Remnant and Earth are considered to be two entirely different worlds.**

 **2) Is Elma assuming that Ruby and Yang are late survivors from Earth?**

 **Yes and No, Elma is just now finding the last of the life pods that were intact. She assumed they were from Earth, yes, but she did not assume they were late survivors from Earth, just a few undiscovered ones.**

 **Your confusion may come from this. In the original game, Elma only found a single pod intact in Starfall Basin: yours. In this story, there were 6 life pods that stayed intact in Starfall Basin: Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and two others who were revived prior to them. This allows for two OCs and Team RWBY to both be on Mira.**

 **3) How and why are they here?**

 **I can't really talk about that here. That's SPOILER territory for now.**

 **To everyone else, if you have any questions, please PM me or review the chapter with your questions and thoughts.**

 **Next chapter should be out on January 15th. See you all then!**


	3. Guns For The Last Of Us

**Okay, I'm sorry! I didn't realize that my PC and my Mac would both have trouble through today. I finally got them working again and I'll be posting the next chapter on the 29th.**

 **I'll address the questions someone asked me in the footnote. You've waited long enough:**

* * *

Elma stepped out of the Barracks with Lin and Team RWBY, as they preferred to be called, trailing her. Elma heard Lin point out her pride and joy as they stepped out into the streets.

"Get a load of that Skell!" Lin exclaimed, a wide smile spreading across her face. "Even the way they walk is so cool!"

The four huntresses stood in awe as they saw the large mechanized battle-suit slowly lumber past them and make its way across the administrative district. The robot was covered head to toe in weaponry, ranging from Falchions to shoulder-mounted grenade launchers to belt mounted automatic rifles. Ruby was speechless from the range of options. Weiss was impressed by the advanced technology that went into building such a mech. Yang looked like Nora who had just been given the permission to hit something with her hammer.

Lin's smile turned into a larger grin. "Oh yeah, baby, work it! Mmmm-Mmmm-Mmmm."

Team RWBY all turned and looked at her, each with their own unique expression. Yang looked back in horror, almost as if she had just been shown tentacle hentai. Blake had a deadly glare etched onto her face, promising that the next time Lin did that, Blake would gut her like a fish. Weiss was thoroughly disgusted at the sound she heard, and looked like she was about to vomit. Ruby looked like she was given a plate of cookies.

Lin noticed Ruby's interest. "Now THIS girl gets it! Skells are amazing! The lasers, the force fields, the bipedal AND vehicular modes?! I could dream about their functions and features all year!"

Ruby let out a gleeful squeal. "Not to mention the grenades, rockets, and interchangeable blades!"

Lin high-fived Ruby. "Yeaaah, you know what I'm talking about."

Elma cleared her throat before anything could get out of hand. "Ruby, Yang, we need to get you two geared up and registered. Lin, you and Ruby can geek out later."

Weiss crossed her arms. "I think we could learn a little more from their use in BLADE."

Elma shrugged. "Skells were initially developed as a defensive measure to combat potential extraterrestrial threats. While it wasn't enough to save Earth, we were able to flee Earth because of them. Regardless, we've managed to grow New LA to this level within two short months due to the advanced technology." She turned to Ruby. "I'd love to get you all into some to experience them for yourselves, but there is a lengthy process to get clearance."

Lin crossed her arms. "First, only Blades are allowed to become Skell Pilots. Second, we have a limited number, so to pilot them, you need a license."

Weiss nodded. "Considering we're talking about highly destructive weapons that require a level of control, I can understand that."

Blake frowned. "How rigorous is the certification process?"

Elma shook her head. "You'll be working for quite a while. It's a selective process based on accomplishments and necessity. They chose the pilots, not the other way around."

Blake nodded. "Duly noted."

Elma turned to face armory alley. "Ruby and Yang are going to need some updated weaponry. Weiss, do you have the credits they'll need?"

Weiss held up a chip card. "Right here."

Ruby had already passed by them at this point. When they caught up with her, she was ogling over every weapon and the specified strengths and weaknesses.

"Do I go sniper rifle and lance? Raygun and knife? Gatling gun and shield? Psycho launchers and photon sword? Assault rifle and longsword? Dual guns and swords? I CAN'T DECIDE!"

Weiss barely made it in time to catch her partner as she fainted. "Take it easy, Ruby. Let's get Yang her gear before we select yours."

Yang took one look at the console and selected a set of dual handguns. "It's pretty similar to my style, but I'm sticking to the Ember Celica for melee combat."

Elma looked at her with concern. "This isn't just a matter of comfort while fighting. This is about survival. Keeping your weapons up to code and upgrading as often as possible help to minimize the casualties."

Yang shrugged. "I'm a brawler back on Remnant. I've never really used any other weapon for a longer period of time."

Weiss shook her head, looking at Ruby, who was still freaking out over which weapon set to use. "Ruby!" she yelled at her team leader. "Just pick one!"

Ruby slapped herself. "Alright, sniper rifle and longsword."

Weiss tapped in the command and all three weapons were dispensed from the machine. Ruby immediately grabbed the sniper rifle and examined it like she was going to clone it. Yang picked up the dual guns and popped the cartridges, figuring out how to reload quickly.

Elma crossed her arms. "You'll get the hang of reloading in battle after a few more fights." She turned to Ruby. "As for you, calm down. You'll have plenty of time to care for your weapons later."

Ruby nodded, sheathing the sword onto her back and hanging the sniper rifle from her belt. "I'm still a little sad that Crescent Rose won't be used."

Yang smirked at her. "Don't worry, sis. We'll keep it as an emergency weapon."

Ruby shrugged. "It's not the same."

Weiss snapped her fingers. "Why don't we show them the Blade Concourse? It should provide Ruby and Yang with some valuable information."

Elma turned in the direction of the concourse. "Then follow me. It's right over here."

Elma began the walk, the rest of the crew following her. Lin fell back with Ruby while Weiss, Blake, and Yang went on ahead.

"So," Lin began. "How old are you four, anyway?"

Ruby smiled. "I'm fifteen and the others are all seventeen."

Lin cocked her head to one side. "Seems a little early to begin combat school if you ask me."

Ruby shook her head. "Look who's talking now."

Lin giggled a little as they caught up to the others. Elma had already begun explaining how the Blade Concourse worked.

"Think of this as our way of distributing the work to other Blades. We don't have an official way of assigning missions yet, so Blades stop by here every now and then to pick up missions and tasks."

Weiss looked at the list. "Is this open for anyone to post missions?"

Blake nodded. "It would explain why there are some 'Social Missions' among the others."

Elma pointed out another mission. "Even something like this Specialized Mission: Primordian Puppy can be posted by citizens. Although this mission was posted by a team near the eastern end of Primordia."

Yang looked closer at the mission. "Wait a moment. Ruby, does the picture look familiar?"

Ruby, Weiss, and Blake all looked closer. The photograph featured a small corgi, white face, white belly, black back and ears. Those eyes reminded the whole team of a single dog they knew from back home. Ruby squealed with glee as Weiss let out an "Aww!" Blake took a step back while Yang did an air punch.

"Zwei!" Ruby hollered.

"He made it, too!" Yang chimed in.

"Please keep him away from me," Blake said in a quiet tone.

Weiss held her hands up. "No way are we doing this now! You two haven't learned how to use Frontier Nav just yet!"

Blake shrugged. "I guess we could teach them later, but remember Weiss, you said yourself it was easy enough for Jaune to pick it up and learn it."

Weiss scoffed. "That's not what I meant. There's an order of operations we need to follow. If Frontier Nav is next up, then that's what we're doing."

Yang slapped her hand on Weiss's back, making her lurch forward from the force. "Relax, Weiss. you can handle all of the important uses until Ruby and I get Zwei. We'll need him for these missions."

Weiss contemplated the argument. "Fine, but I will have you learn Frontier Nav next!"

Ruby lead team RWBY away from the mission board and over to the barracks. Nagi was waiting for them outside with something in his hands.

Nagi chuckled upon seeing the energy in Ruby's eyes. "Find a mission you'd like?"

Ruby nodded. "We think we found our team's mascot: my dog Zwei. He was last seen near the southern shore."

Nagi chuckled a little. "Well, before you take off, I have something for your team and your leader. We'll need your members to carry these at all times."

He passed Ruby and Yang two cellular devices. Both girls opened them to reveal a menu with an array of options. Ruby scanned through it quickly, taking note of major categories and key features. When she put hers away, Nagi continued.

"Firstly, I need to know who your team leader is. I assume you'll want to work on your own for a while?"

Weiss nodded. "That would be Ruby here. She was our leader before getting here to Mira."

Nagi nodded. "So it's Team Ruby, right?"

Ruby cut him off. "It's spelled R-W-B-Y. Each letter stands for another member of the team."

Elma piped in. "Doesn't that get…"

Yang jumped in. "Yes, it did get confusing. It usually does."

Nagi shrugged. "So, Team RWBY, with a 'W', right?"

Ruby nodded. "Anything else?"

Nagi opened his comm device and made a few inputs. "I'd like you to meet with me when you return from the mission. It's a private matter, so your team needs to stay at the barracks while you meet with me. Is that permissible?"

Ruby agreed. Nagi set off for BLADE Tower. Elma let Team RWBY run off to accomplish their first mission.

* * *

Nagi checked his watch. It was nearly 23:00 hours (or 11 PM for you non-military personnel) and Ruby had not shown up yet. He had received word that she was on her way to BLADE Tower. He wondered whether or not she would arrive before the hour struck. He had not set a specific time to meet up. Standing next to him was General Vandham, arms crossed and mustache trimmed to perfection. Vandham was wearing a sleeveless tank top, cargo pants, and combat boots. Vandham was focused on the screens detailing the Skells in the fields of Primordia.

At 10:59, the door to the elevator opened up and five footsteps were heard. Nagi turned around to see Ruby had stepped off of the lift, her silver eyes glistening in the dimly lit command room.

"Sorry I kept you waiting," she said. "Someone pressed all of the buttons on the way up."

Nagi shook his head. "I'm just glad you made it here before anything dangerous happened to our teams on the front line."

Vandham turned to the new arrival. "This the new team leader you told me about?"

Nagi nodded. "I believe introductions are in order. May I introduce General Vandham, head of field operations and Skell maintenance."

Ruby extended her hand. "I'm Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you."

Vandham shook it. "Likewise, Captain Rose."

Ruby shook her head. "Nope, just Ruby."

Nagi cut in. "She was never in our military before the white whale. Where did you get 'Captain' from?"

Vandham facepalmed. "I was just guessing. How was I to know she'd be one of the huntresses?"

Ruby crossed her arms. "So, you know who we are?"

Nagi nodded. "There are a few things we need to inform you about. Are you ready?"

Ruby let her arms hang down. "How serious are we talking?"

Vandham spoke up. "Firstly, roles as your team's leader. Weiss Schnee will fill you in on Frontier Nav, but she'll handle most of it. Your primary concern is navigation and coordination of your team. Any objections?"

Ruby shook her head. "None. Next?"

Nagi pulled out a small circular, metal object and placed it on the ground. "Secondly, you're going to want to see this before we explain what's going on."

The device powered up and projected a lavender light upward, projecting a figure in the air in front of them. The figure was a human, with dark hair that had streaks of white in it. The man was wearing his usual attire, semi-formal, yet casual at the same time. He wore a cape on his back that covered the sword he kept at his side. Ruby recognized him immediately as her uncle, Qrow Branwen.

Qrow's image began relaying its message. "Hey, kid. If you're seeing this, then you at least survived the trip from Remnant. Listen closely, Remnant isn't looking too good anymore.

"I'll start where I can. Salem and her group of elites were able to destroy Beacon, Haven, and Shade nearly overnight. Ozpin left me and Ironwood in charge of bringing any survivors we could to help save our world, but we ran out of options. As we were able to get you and your team to band together in Atlas, the White Fang closed in and blocked off all access to the outside world. In a last ditch effort, we were able to save four people and send them into an alternate dimension, perhaps allowing them to continue on and help another worthy cause.

"Ruby, I know that I don't have any time left. Right now, you have the tools needed to help another human population survive and thrive. Ozpin set up allies with Nagi from this world long before his time came. If anyone is worthy of your help, it's him."

Qrow paused. "I know it's a lot to take in, but don't worry kiddo, you're built to last. Anyway, from who we were able to send, it looks like it's just you, your sister, the cat-thief, and the last Schnee who are left. You four are the only capable huntresses left on our side, willing to do this."

Qrow looked around as a snarling sound began to play along with his voice. "Ruby, I want you to fight on and live! Don't you give up just because you four are the only ones left from Remnant!"

Qrow drew his sword as a Beowolf slashed at him. "Don't worry about us! Save yourselves and live on! It's what your mom would have wanted."

The image faded away and the light vanished. The door to the elevator opened, revealing Weiss in her battle armor.

The heiress stepped out of the elevator. "You wanted to see me, General?"

Vandham nodded. "Ms. Rose may need some emotional support for the moment."

Weiss wrapped her arm around her partner, who had tears welling up in her eyes. "Ruby?"

Ruby turned into Weiss, clasping both of her arms around her friend. "It's gone!" she whimpered into Weiss's sleeve.

Weiss returned the embrace, trying to calm her leader as best as she could. Vandham turned to Nagi, shaking his head in disapproval. Nagi held a stern look on his face, seeming to hold Vandham from saying anything about the development.

After a moment or two, Ruby was able to slow the flow of tears. "I think I'm ready to continue."

Nagi nodded. "Fortunately, that's the only depressing thing we need to go over. Everything else is just classified information about Blades in general."

Ruby wiped her eyes. "Alright," she sighed. "What's next?"

* * *

Ruby and Weiss returned to the BLADE Barracks at 1:00. They were greeted by a small black and white dog running up to her and barking twice at her. Ruby squatted down and patted the head of her dog. "Good to see you, Zwei."

Weiss placed a hand on her partner's shoulder. "You're taking this better than I thought you might."

Ruby shook her head. "Believe me, I'm not. Uncle Qrow, Dad, Yang's mom, your dad-"

Weiss held up her other hand. "No. I do not mourn his death."

Ruby sighed. "The point is that they're gone, leaving us to carry on."

Weiss shook her head. "It's a shame that the only four who could get through were us."

"I don't believe that."

Weiss stepped back. "What?"

Ruby started walking forward, Weiss soon to follow. "I don't think we were the only four to make it here to the other side. We may find something later on that proves me right, so I'm willing to believe."

Weiss shrugged. "What if you are right, but it turns out that Cinder or Salem made it through?"

Ruby sat down on the couch, Zwei curling up at her feet. "I...I don't know."

Weiss moved to sit to Ruby's right. "If I know one thing about this situation, I'd rather be wrong and never know it than be right for the wrong reasons. If there are other huntsmen and huntresses out there, we'll find them."

Ruby sighed. "Let's just hope that we're ready for anything that comes up."

Weiss placed her left arm around Ruby. "One day at a time."

Ruby leaned in towards her partner and drifted off to sleep, cradled by her partner who would stand with her through thick and thin.

* * *

 **Questions? I'm sure you have something to ask. Review with your questions and they may be answered here.**

 **First, we need to address the elephant in the room. "When are you updating Doom: GTOV?"**

 **Okay! Okay! I need to explain why this story is getting out before that one can update. I wrote this story a while ago and recently completed the sixth chapter. Doom: GTOV is coming back for the Vytal Festival, but we will not be continuing past that point in the same story. Your next few chapters to that story are coming, I promise. Please hold on just a little longer while I make sure they are perfect.**

 **Secondly, the next update is going to be January 29th. I want people to get comfortable with a bi-weekly schedule because it allows me to use any/all free time towards these stories while giving readers a specified time to set aside on Mondays. My free time is nearly gone at this point, but I'll do as much as I can whenever I can. Most of you publishers know this is the toughest position to be in.**

 **Thirdly, I need to make one more announcement. I have been hard at work on the D &D styled Fire Emblem system. I am hoping to release it by next Christmas, but until then, "Project Emblem" will be in Alpha and Beta testing. Once I've published it, you all will be the first group to know how to get it for yourselves.**

 **Thanks for reading. See you all next time.**


	4. Morning Routines

**Here we are: Chapter 3. Is this where Emm and I appear? Let's find out.**

* * *

It hadn't been since the first day of classes that Ruby awoke the team in this fashion. Weiss was slightly awake and peacefully stretching her arms, Blake was twitching in bed, and Yang was rolling out of bed. Just as Yang's feet hit the floor, Ruby blew her whistle loudly.

Weiss toppled out of bed, landing face first on the floor. Blake leaped out of bed and clung to the ceiling. Ruby and Yang rolled over laughing. Ruby finally got up, tears of laughter streaming from her cheeks. Yang stood up and peeled Blake off of the ceiling. Just then, Zwei ran in yipping loudly, scaring Blake again and making her leap to a high ledge in the room. Ruby lost it as Yang shooed Zwei away from the room.

"GOOD MORNING, TEAM RWBY!" Ruby hollered.

Weiss facepalmed. "Not this again."

Ruby ignored her. "We've got a big day ahead of us! We've got our mission briefing at 10:00, so hurry up!"

Weiss glanced up at the clock. It read 8:34. Good. That left her enough time to gear up, get breakfast, stock up on ammunition, and check in with the Division Module.

Crap! she thought. I forgot to tell Ruby and Yang about Divisions! They still need to choose one!

She ran to the bathroom to shower and prep up for the day ahead. She knew at least that the Prospectors could seek to benefit from the day's tasks.

Blake shook herself awake and changed her bow, careful to place it back where it was. She then decided breakfast should come first while Weiss was getting ready.

As Blake entered the common area, she saw Ruby and Yang already eating at the table. Lyn had finished cooking an amazing breakfast and was setting out two more places, likely for Weiss and Blake.

Blake pulled back a chair and sat down as Lin passed her a plate. Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and a buttered biscuit lay on the plate and the aroma rose to meet Blake's sensitive nose. It was a scent unlike any she had detected for a while. Her stomach rumbled loudly from the anticipation of the delight that would follow. Blake ate at a speed that allowed her to savor the meal, enjoy each bite, and satisfy her appetite.

Weiss exited the dorm room as Blake finished her breakfast. Instead of heading straight to the table, she turned the corner and headed off toward the Division Module. Weiss had done this every morning since her assignment to BLADE. She placed her left hand on the console.

About three seconds later, a keyboard appeared on the screen. Weiss typed in her 16 digit password, and the keyboard vanished. A holographic menu booted up as a robotic voice sounded confirmation of her login: "Welcome, Ms. Schnee."

Weiss began her command. "I'd like to collect my Division Bonus, please."

The menu altered its options. Five options were displayed in white, but there were three that were grayed out. The grayed out options were: Salvage Ticket, GP Boost, and, to Weiss's disappointment, TP Party Boost. Weiss sighed and selected the fifth option: Supreme Bonus.

"To redeem your bonus, please place your comlink into the module."

Weiss did so. A quick beep from the system confirmed her additional 30000 credits transferring to her account.

Blake passed her on her way to the dining table. The bow-headed huntress entered her info and discovered that her Division, the Reclaimers, had gained enough support for her to get a TP Party Boost, something Weiss had her eyes on getting, so much so that she was collecting large sums of these whenever she could. She thought that she might be able to barter for it if Weiss wanted. In the end, she just chose it because it was something she could benefit from later.

Blake then had time to wash up and inspect her gear. Peak condition? Check. Ammo to spare? Check. Areas to repair? Nope. Her gear had not seen much combat the day prior.

Upon returning to the common area, Blake saw Ruby, Weiss, and Yang at the information terminal with Elma and Lin. The screen behind them showed the eight Divisions of BLADE: Pathfinders, Interceptors, Harriers, Reclaimers, Curators, Prospectors, Outfitters, and Mediators. It appeared that the two sisters were selecting a Division to work with. It wasn't mandatory that Blades from separate Divisions work separate, but rather the opposite was more true: working with many Blades from different Divisions was beneficial and encouraged.

Blake made her way to the table and took her place next to Yang. She did not draw attention to herself while Yang and Ruby thought about their choices.

Yang was the first to decide. "I think I'll join the Harriers. I could benefit greatly from the melee offensive boost."

Ruby shook her head. "I don't know if I should join the Mediators or the Interceptors."

Blake chimed in. "The Interceptors have the additional range bonus, but I think that you'd be a larger help as a Mediator. The extra TP Boost and added interaction seems right up your alley."

Ruby nodded. "Alright, Mediators it is then."

Elma logged their choices into the terminal. "Looks like you're all set. Now, we need to discuss today's mission. Everyone ready?"

Weiss spoke for the group. "I think we're all ready."

Elma began. "Our task today is simple: we had a skell team fall in combat a small distance from NLA. Our last contact was with the team's leader and from the sounds of it, they were under attack by some indigenous creatures. Team RWBY has been assigned to this mission, but Nagi requested that we tag along to examine your level of teamwork and your strength in battle. I've also called in two recruits who will be joining my team to meet us outside the eastern gate."

Blake wanted a little clarification. "So, expect a recon mission, but prepare for a bounty hunt?"

Elma nodded. "That's the best way to put it. Who knows? We may get there without any trouble at all."

Lin shook her head. "I don't know. I've got a bad feeling all of a sudden."

Ruby snapped her fingers. "Hey, you've got us to help. Yang, what were our list of achievements from Remnant?"

Yang counted each item on her fingers. "Let's see: Taking out a Nevermore and a Deathstalker with relative ease, driving off violent extremists on multiple occasions, trashing an abandoned island run by a mad scientist and his mutants, getting rid of two dangerous sociopaths, and placing in the finals of the tournament before it was compromised…."

Weiss stopped her. "Until you blew off Mercury's Robotic leg."

Yang glared. "Again: before it was compromised."

Ruby sighed. "Regardless, you've got us here! No need to worry."

Lin smiled. "Then I'll stay on the positive side of things."

Elma tapped her finger on the display. "Let's get going. We've not much time to lose."

* * *

Emm was tapping her foot impatiently. Her black-tinted armor was customized for speed and strength in offensive maneuvers, despite its abnormal appearance. It was crafted from the chestplate from a Norak Battlesuit with the sleeves removed, Elite Scoales, a green visored Scouter, and black combat gloves. Her weapons of choice were a set of dual plasma pistols and an ebony katana. Her red hair was just long enough to reach past her shoulders, but she had tied it back into a ponytail to keep it controlled. She was scanning the entrance into NLA with her sapphire eyes. She soon began to shift her shoulder a little in order to distract herself from the long wait.

Her partner, N-Sight, was checking his comlink for the route ahead. His silver eyes kept searching for what signals he could find. He eventually put up his device and ran his left hand through his blue-streaked, silver hair. He rested his other hand on his beam sword, hanging from his belt on the left side. He brushed off his shoulder and glanced down at his golden gloves, colored to match his black shirt with golden sleeves. He wore combat scoales of a darker shade, as close to lincoln green as he could get. As he stared towards the entrance, he readjusted his silver glasses to fit more snug on the rim of his nose. He finally found what he was looking for.

"There they are," he stated, eyeing a group of six women walking around the corner. He noted that he'd be surrounded by women for the next few hours. It was not something that he was going to be thrilled about. It just brought back memories of living with his family on earth, but that's for another time.

Emm coughed into her hand. "It's what we get for arriving at the rendezvous point two hours early."

N-Sight just shrugged. "I just didn't want to hold up the colonel from another mission."

Emm shook her head. "Forget that other mission from last week. That was a five minute delay and you know it."

The group of six had reached them now. Elma and Lin were the two that they had met before, but the other four were fairly new recruits to them. N-Sight decided to take in the details of each for later reference.

The youngest of the newcomers wore a black t-shirt with long sleeves, one black and one redder than a rose. Her black combat pants were complemented by her black combat boots, which had red stripes and soles to them. Her black and crimson tinted hair was free from any accessory, an uncommon thing for soldiers in general, let alone a teenage girl. He noticed that she wielded a sniper rifle and a longsword, a simple combination, but not very popular among new recruits and unexperienced Blades.

Second, his focus changed to the white haired beauty. She was dressed in survival armor from chest to toe, opting out of the helmet as a defensive measure. She had her hair tied back into a long ponytail, which went down into her armor at the neck to hide its true length. Her weapons of choice were twin psycho launchers on her back and a laser sword at her belt. He could tell by the way she carried herself that she had been the heiress to a large corporation or a royal figure of some type. However, her face was marred by a single scar that ran over her left eye.

Thirdly, the ninja of the group, arguably, was an interesting sight to see. She wore a black bow in her ebony hair. She wore jet-black attire, with nothing to distinguish between any clothing item. She had twin swords sheathed on her back and two pistols clipped below them. Her amber eyes shone back at him with little to no emotion within them.

Finally, he noticed the blonde bombshell. She had a brown t-shirt on and black pants like the first girl's. Her black boots were decorated with golden heels and a matching stripe on each side. She appeared to have no melee weapon, but she wielded dual handguns clipped to her belt. Her golden bracelets amused N-Sight, who could not figure out what they did. Finally, he noticed her right arm was mechanical, no skin on it and made of a durable alloy of some kind. Her long hair went too far for practicality, but he was more focused on her lavender eyes. He knew that something was different about them, but he just couldn't place it.

He turned back to Elma, who was just about to ask him something. "N-Sight, Emm, are you two ready?"

He nodded. "I'm all suited up and ready to go."

Emm smirked. "You know I'm ready, but who are all of these teenagers you've brought with you?"

N-Sight elbowed her. "Don't you recognize them? They're the new recruits who took in the Corgi we found two days ago."

Emm tilted her head. "Oh! That makes more sense."

Elma gestured to the four huntresses. "This is Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long." She moved her hand towards Emm and N-Sight. "This is Emm and N-Sight, the newest additions to my team."

N-Sight extended his right hand. "It is an honor to meet you, Ms. Schnee."

Weiss took his hand and shook it firmly. "The pleasure is mine."

Emm turned to look at her partner with a confused look, but shook her head and extended hers towards Ruby. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Rose."

Ruby shook her hand in return. "Nice to meet you, but just call me Ruby!"

Emm let go and went to shake with Yang, but was greeted by a tight hug by the blonde bombshell. "It's my turn!"

Emm tried to break free of the tough grip, but to no avail. "Can't...Breathe!" She gasped.

Yang let go. "Sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm a bit of a hugger, in case you hadn't noticed."

Emm brushed herself off. "Oh, I've noticed."

N-Sight cleared his throat. "Are we setting out now, or are we still waiting for someone?"

Elma shook her head. "Nope, that's everyone. Let's get going. We have a lot of ground to cover before nightfall."

The crew set out, uncertain of what they would encounter and unprepared for the fate that lay ahead.

* * *

 **Emm: It feels good to be back.**

 **N-Sight: Same here, although I'm in the story alongside you.**

 **Emm: Did you ever disclose to me what your primary ranged weapon is?**

 **N-Sight: Nope. I'm still building it.**

 **Emm: You and your quirky weapon designs.**

 **N-Sight: Regardless, I'm not spoiling it here.**

 **Emm: I guess we'll catch up with that downed Skell two weeks from now.**

 **N-Sight: Yep. Writing these things and trying to stay ahead is difficult.**

 **Emm: Quick question.**

 **N-Sight: No, I haven't caught up on DOOM: GTOV yet.**

 **Emm: Not that. When do you plan on pausing this story?**

 **N-Sight: Hopefully, I won't. I'll have some side-quests that will keep me busy, but I'll keep updating as long as I can keep up.**

 **Emm: Same day, two weeks?**

 **N-Sight:** **Same day, two weeks.**


	5. Prisoners, Prone, and Potatoes

"I GOT IT!"

Emm hollered out at N-Sight, who held his beam sword in a defensive stance. She front flipped over him, sinking her longsword into the neck of the Grex they were facing off against. She planted her feet against its skull and slashed it open with a swing to the left. She whipped her sword around and slashed the Grex's head clean off with a strike from the right. The head flew forward and landed at N-Sight's feet. The dark-clad fighter stepped over it in disgust.

"Not that I mind killing these things, but do you have to throw the heads at me EVERY time?"

Emm leaped off of the Grex corpse. "Sorry! Force of habit!"

N-Sight belted his beam sword and crossed his arms. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't do this anymore. You of all people know why it doesn't sit well with me."

Emm chuckled. "No promises, but I'll try."

Elma cleared her throat. "Now that you two are finished, shall we get moving? Team RWBY ran ahead."

Emm shouldered her sword. "Aw, come on, Elma. I was just having a little fun."

The three of them soon caught up with Team RWBY and Lin, who had come upon the wreckage of the Skell from the missing team. Lin was scanning it for damage readings when they walked up. Ruby and Yang were chatting off to one side. Weiss was examining her psycho launchers for power levels and damage. Blake was keeping watch, meaning she was the first to see the three newcomers arrive.

"Took you long enough," the ninja said, arms crossed and slight annoyance in her eyes. "Riding Hood and Goldilocks aren't my ideal conversation and Lin refused to disclose anything until we were all gathered."

N-Sight shook his head. 'Figured as much,' he thought. 'I would've expected Lin to hold up so she doesn't explain something twice and it's not surprising that Blake would not enjoy the idle chatter.'

Elma tapped Lin on the shoulder and stood up with her diagnosis. "Well," Lin began. "This is an interesting sight to see a Skell in. There's significant damage on the limbs and the battery was drained, but what makes this stand out is that the damaged areas are giving off five different signatures of importance for this autopsy."

N-Sight took one look at the right leg of the robot. "I see traces of thermal damage on this mark here and there's residual from ether contact next to this one."

Lin nodded. "I also picked up a few traces of a plasma burst and there's significant electrical damage to the servos and joints. This would imply a lightning strike, but our scanners haven't picked up such storms nor would it do this much damage. Not to mention the physical damage was not the typical scratch or bite we usually see."

N-Sight dragged his index finger along one mark. "There can only be one explanation for this."

Elma and Emm both bore similarly confused looks on their faces. "What does this mean?" Ruby said, just as confused as any.

Weiss shook her head. "It just means that this wasn't just a simple encounter with any random indigen. The significant damage difference…"

N-Sight stepped back from the robot. "Paired with the plasma based weapon damage…"

They both turned in unison to face the rest of the group. "...Means that the team was attacked by a civilization with higher access to advanced technology!"

Elma frowned. "I wondered why the two of you had that look in your eyes."

Emm shook her head. "It still doesn't explain what really happened. They could have been set upon by other humans who have ulterior motives."

Lin shook hers in response. "We would have been contacted sooner about the attack and would have names of who it was."

Weiss held her hand out. "Meaning that it must have been another species that took out the team."

N-Sight shifted his glasses. "Well, it's not good news, but it's still something to think about. Regardless, we need to find them if they're nearby."

Yang then noticed that the team in question was not anywhere to be seen. Beeping sounded from Lin's comlink. "I've picked up life signs of all four team members as well as some non-humans. They're coming from around the corner."

As she announced this, four humanoid aliens stepped out from behind them. N-Sight was the first to spot them as they emerged. The rest of the group heard them step closer and they instinctively backed towards the Skell, eyes on the newcomers. They were barely taller than Blake, but they clearly weren't as tall as N-Sight's 6'2" towering height. Their skins were a dark gray hue, similar to a crocodile's. Each wore masks to hide their mouths and to help with breathing, perhaps. They had quite a bit of bulk to them, but their armor made them seem even larger.

Their leader held out his rifle aimed at Ruby. "This is your only warning, humans. Run away while you still can, or we will terminate you all."

No one moved for a moment. N-Sight's mind had kicked into gear and was whirling at the speed of light, analyzing their motions, weapons, bulk, armor, even their eyes and facial expressions. He suddenly pulled out his beam sword and ignited it.

"Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, make for the team. Lin, Elma, Emm, help me eliminate them so we can get this mission over with quickly."

Elma stopped him. "Wait, maybe we can use a diplomatic approach to solve this conflict."

N-Sight shook his head. "They've clearly pointed out their intentions: eliminate us if we stay here. If we're going to get Nelson's team back, we'll need to talk to their leader."

Elma shrugged. "I thought that you of all people would prefer diplomacy over violence."

N-Sight nodded. "I do, but these don't look like they'll talk peacefully. We'll have to take these down quickly to advance."

Emm drew her katana and held it in front of her. "That's easier said than done."

N-Sight motioned for Team RWBY to go. "No, it's not. I've already figured their stats out. Go now."

Team RWBY ran for it. Now that the delicate minds, aside from Lin were out of sight, N-Sight nodded at Emm. "Let 'em have it."

Emm smiled a devilish glare. "With pleasure."

Emm dashed forward past the leader. She stopped in the center of the group and swung her sword around her body. It slashed clean through the stomachs of each one leaving the leader standing. N-Sight slashed upwards through the rifle and cut it apart. The leader lifted its arms above its head.

Emm held her katana at its throat. "Tell us why you have it out for the human race!"

The leader scoffed. "We, the Prone, only live to serve the supreme race of our army, the Ganglion. As it turns out, you humans and your allies must all be exterminated to ensure our mutual survival."

Emm looked to N-Sight, who had another question to ask. "Why all humans and its allies? What threat do we pose as your enemies?"

The Prone leader just shrugged. "How should I know? I'm only a Squad Leader!"

N-Sight looked up at Emm with a look that said: Yeah, we're done here, but don't do what I think you are going to do. Sure enough, she ignored his expression and slashed her blade through the Prone's throat and decapitated it.

N-Sight closed his eyes and groaned, a cringing expression plastered on his face. "You KNOW that disgusts me! Why do you keep doing that?"

Emm laughed. "I'm just having a little fun!"

Elma cleared her throat before motioning the two of them to make haste.

* * *

Team RWBY was standing on the other side of the bridge, having eliminated the Prone and their pets between them and the Skell wreckage. Weiss had her beam sword out, blade extended at the neck of another Prone.

"Who are you and why do you have it out for us?" She held her blade close while it gave a reply.

"We are the Prone, a race made to serve the Ganglion. They want you all exterminated because of some prophecy or something, I don't give a damn!" He wailed at the end when Weiss tightened her hand on his shoulder.

Yang cocked her pistol. "Anymore that you'd like to spill before your corpse is all that's left?"

The Prone sounded scared. "That's all I know, I swear! They don't give me all of the answers I ask for! I'm just a grunt!"

Blake held Yang's hand and forced her to lower the gun. "Anything about the humans you took as hostages?" She voiced her emphasis on 'humans' to get her point across.

The Prone nodded. "You'll have to move quickly: they're in the tower, about to be executed from what I could gather."

Weiss loosed her hand a little. "How long do you usually keep prisoners alive?"

"Just long enough to make them suffer. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, just thought I'd give you a respite similar to your friends."

The Prone was terrified when he realized her meaning. "WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! I CAN HELP-"

He was cut off by two shots through the chest and head from Yang. His body slumped down and Weiss retracted her beam sword's blade. Weiss slapped her forehead with her palm, mortified at Yang's harsh actions.

"I could have gotten information from him!" Weiss complained.

"He wasn't to be trusted!" Yang gave her defense.

Blake spoke up. "Sure, but that's what I'm here for: eliminate threats to our team."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Coming from the ex-White Fang member."

Blake glared at her with a look that could cut through the planet. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just find it ironic that you're the one who is claiming to be the 'threat eliminator' on our team."

"You three of all people know why I left the White Fang. I'd rather not go into that now."

Just then, Ruby fired off her rifle four times. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! In response to the discharge, four Prone guarding a pen and two sentry bots fell from the ricocheting bullets. Yang smirked at the marksmanship, Blake crossed her arms in surprise, and Weiss dropped her beam sword in shock. This is the reaction Ruby was met with when she faced her teammates.

"What!? You guys were fighting and I was thinking about how to clear the area ahead! Try to focus while we're out here! We can discuss our pasts after the mission."

Yang shook her head and took off towards a large crate that provided cover for her. The three remaining at the bridge turned to see that Team Elma had caught up with them. N-Sight took a look at the fallen Prone at Weiss's feet and pointed at it with his index and middle fingers.

"SEE? Head intact and no goop spilling from the body! Try doing this every once in awhile!"

Emm scoffed. "It's still fun my way."

Elma turned to Ruby. "Any information from him?"

Ruby nodded. "Sure! These, 'Prone' as he called them, are serving some race known as the 'Ganglion' who want our race destroyed. Apparently due to something some prophecy said. Aside from that, the team in question was about to be executed a short time ago."

Elma smiled. "You got more than we did. Our guys just gave a portion of what you told us."

"So, what now?" Weiss tilted her head slightly, wondering what was expected.

"What else?" Lin crossed her arms. "Follow Yang's lead and take back our missing team."

Yang fired off her pistols again, sending two robots into a frenzy and decapitating a third. Ruby rushed over and slashed her scythe to cut through the first's abdomen. Blake took one shot at the remaining robot and nailed a clean headshot, exploding it in a shower of sparks.

N-Sight shook his head. "Much as I'd hate to say it, I really think I've got some extra work to do."

Emm smirked at his statement. "What are you planning?"

N-Sight tried to hide his smile, but failed miserably. "You'll have to wait and see."

They took off, heading up the path to the tower as fast as their legs could carry them.

* * *

Drax was cackling maniacally. His Prone brethren had single-handedly eliminated four humans and destroyed their mech with ease. His team was unstoppable by any human force that dared to challenge him. He feared nothing.

Little did he notice the eight Blades walking in the tower's entrance. He was too thrilled to care what his men were doing. His lackeys brought him out of his jovial cruelty.

"What is it?"

"Boss, you may want to see this."

He turned to face his lackey. "This had better be good."

The Prone cadet just held his hand out to his right, pointing towards the door. Drax turned curiously to face the humans who had arrived on the scene.

"Er, that would be bad," he said, rolling his heavy words off of his breath.

Elma noticed the corpses of the team littering the ground behind the Prone leader. "What wasteful hatred. What do you hold against us that warrants such destructive actions?"

"Your very existence is such a threat to our leaders that we have no choice but to crush you all."

Emm drew her katana. "Foul criminals such as these can't be negotiated with on such terms as these. It's time to take them on!"

Ruby drew her sword, Yang cocked back Ember Celica, Blake twirled her twin blades, Weiss and N-Sight activated their beam swords, Elma drew her pistols, and Lin unfolded her shield. Each troop took a combative stance ready to strike.

Drax whistled and a group of prone grunts ran down the stairs of the tower. Drax headed for the stairs and proceeded up to the next floor before turning and saying his farewell:

"Ladies and gentleman, this will be the day you shall always remember as the time you almost fought Drax, the Black Jacket! Let 'em have it, boys!"

He took off up the stairs, faster than most could keep up with. The remaining Prone opened fire on the human troops.

Ruby was the first to retaliate. She dashed forward and slashed through one's chest. Yang ran in and punched through the faces of two off to the side, knocking them back and dazing them for a moment. Elma slid under three of them and shot through a fourth, sending his corpse to the ground. Emm began a slashing frenzy against one who tried attacking with a knife. Blake and Weiss began slashing through bullets and guns as the came within range. N-Sight calmly held his beam sword in a defensive stance, only shifting it slightly to cut bullets as they came within range.

Needless to say, the two teams made quick work of the Prone forces. Elma motioned for Emm, N-Sight, and Lin to follow her outside. Ruby motioned for her team to head up the stairs. As the teams split, there was the sound of a flight engine revving up for takeoff. Team RWBY ran up the stairs quickly and ascended to see the aircraft of Drax close up and take off into the evening sky.

Ruby switched her weapons to her sniper rifle. Aiming down the sights allowed her to see the figure piloting the aircraft. It was none other than a young human. It was weird that a human was working with Drax, but then Ruby saw his face. Ruby lowered her scope and widened her eyes.

Yang placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "What was that?"

Ruby shook her head. "I saw the pilot. It's Mercury Black."

* * *

Elma and N-Sight turned off to one side and looked down at the trash container in front of them. "You saw that too, right N-Sight?" Elma inquired.

"Yeah, and I bet that's no simple indigen."

Emm scoffed. "I'll bet you four grand it's just another dumb rodent inhabitant."

N-Sight smirked. "I'll raise it to five grand and bet it's an intelligent species that understands English."

"Deal!"

N-Sight moved to one side of the bin and pushed up on the lid. The bin tipped forward onto its front and the lid popped open. Out of the container rolled a few oversized potatoes, one of which had on a backpack and green vest. The dressed one got up and grabbed a pair of swirled glasses off of the ground and placed them on his eyes.

"Tatsu lives again!" The sudden outburst startled Emm.

"Fascinating! Another form of life with a higher sense of intelligence. This is exactly what I expected." N-Sight pondered aloud.

Lin was interested, but for a different reason. "I wonder how it tastes."

The newcomer outstretched its limbs, which looked like chicken wings. "Tatsu hear that! Tatsu say he taste bad!"

Lin jumped back in shock. "Ah! I didn't mean to say that!"

Elma addressed the elephant in the room: "So, what happened to you?"

The small potato responded, "Prone capture Tatsu! Stuff him in can for meal later! They eat nopon like Tatsu for fun!"

Lin smirked. "I wonder why. Maybe it's because you smell so good."

N-Sight had to hand it to her, Tatsu did smell great, like a backyard barbecue. Regardless, it looks like he'd won the bet.

Tatsu ignored the next poke at him from Lin and focused on the others. "So, who might Tatsu's new friends be?"

Elma stepped up. "I'm Elma. I'm the team leader here for the four of us. This here is Emm, her friend N-Sight, and our cook and mechanic, Lin."

Tatsu straightened up and held out two more tiny arms. "Tatsu pleased to meet and happy for rescue! Glad to help Elma anytime!"

Elma crossed her arms. "Perhaps we could use your help. Tatsu, are you familiar with the landscape of Mira?"

Tatsu jumped and swayed. "Of course! Tatsu been here since was littlepon! Tatsu also have something for friends."

Tatsu reached into his pack and pulled out a glowing white orb. "Friends use this to find way in world. Nav Ball show path to next place friend want to go!"

N-Sight took one look at the Nav Ball and smiled. "Wonderful! Tatsu, do you think you might come with us and operate that if we need it?"

Tatsu jumped in place. "Tatsu here to help! If friend need, Tatsu offer service."

Elma nodded. "Thanks, Tatsu. This will help us in the long run."

Just then, Team RWBY exited the tower, all with concerned expressions on their faces. Emm was the first to address them.

"Let me guess, he got away?"

Weiss nodded. "That's right, but there was something else bugging us. Ruby thinks she saw an enemy of ours in the cockpit of the vehicle. His name is Mercury Black, and he's the son of an assassin. He caused us a lot of trouble during the Fall of Beacon."

N-Sight turned to face them. "Weird, I thought you four were the only ones from Remnant on our ship."

Blake crossed her arms. "That's what we thought too. It might not be him she saw, but it might be him: we don't know at this point."

N-Sight pulled out his comlink. "Regardless, Nagi is expecting our return shortly. We'll need to head back now."

The two teams then began a brisk walk back to the habitat unit and NLA. However, N-Sight held Emm back for a moment.

"Can we both agree that this will probably evolve into a full blown war?" he asked her.

She nodded. "I'm pretty sure this will be painful to fight and to recover from."

"I concur. Oh, you owe me 5,000 credits!"

* * *

 **N-Sight: Well, are you going to pay me?**

 **Emm: Fine. (hands him a chip card) Any chance that I could get a sneak preview of next chapter?**

 **N-Sight: (receives the transfer) Another five grand and we'll talk.**

 **Emm: Not happening.**

 **N-Sight: (returns the chip card) Then you'll just have to wait until February 26th.**

 **Emm: You need to bulk up a little.**

 **N-Sight: I was going to tell you the same thing, Emma Wyvern Pyrofelle.**

 **Emm: Oh no you didn't!**

 **N-Sight: Oh yes I did.**

 **Emm: When are we getting-**

 **N-Sight: Ask again and you'll never get it.**

 **Emm: (Pause) I'm asking out of concern for what I saw you writing.**

 **N-Sight: The DOOM/RWBY crossover's final chapter of act 3?**

 **Emm: Precisely.**

 **N-Sight: Well, I didn't want to announce this yet, but I'll be updating that story within the next month or so.**

 **Emm: Any idea when?**

 **N-Sight: I'll know in two weeks.**

 **Emm: I'll wait.**


	6. Holding On For Dear Lifehold

Team RWBY was standing around the briefing room's central table in the barracks. All of them had their weapons clipped and reloaded for their next mission. Ruby was leading them on this mission and she was determined to make it a successful one.

Ruby tapped something on the table's control panel. "Alright team, here's our mission."

A hologram of a tall tower-like structure appeared above the table. "Nagi has informed me about the ship's original functions. The Lifehold, as they call this, is supposed to be something like a central hub for the others to restore the human race and keep them surviving. When the ship crashed, it scattered pieces of the Lifehold everywhere. Fortunately, they picked up the location for a Lifehold Unit in Noctilum."

Weiss pointed at the place on the map. "So, Nagi wants us to get to the unit and retrieve any information from it? Seems like an easy errand."

Blake coughed. "Not exactly what I'd prefer to do as our first independent mission."

Ruby shook her head. "That's not it. I've received word that Elma's team is on their way to the Lifehold as we speak. We're going to provide backup if they run into trouble. Until then, we'll be setting up some Data Probes nearby to collect some rare ores. Nagi's already updated our maps with our assigned points."

Blake checked her Frontier Nav tablet. "So, that's all we'll be doing unless Elma needs backup?"

Yang smirked. "Probe-ably!"

Ruby slapped her hand to her forehead. "Yang! That was bad."

Weiss ignored the sisters' antics. "Let's get going. We'll need to be quick to finish the mission in time."

Blake drew her dual guns. "I'd say we're already late."

At that, all four of them rushed out of the barracks, deciding to leave Zwei at the last minute.

* * *

Emm shouldered her sword and kicked back the severed legs of the Forfex she slaughtered. "Another beautiful kill."

N-Sight wiped the mucus off of his glasses. "Would it kill you to avoid these 'glory kills' of yours?"

Emm laughed. "You just can't stomach my favorite way of destroying these monsters."

N-Sight sighed. "And you picked this up from Dusk."

Emm shrugged. "Maybe, but I only do this when you're the victim, so it's just between us."

N-Sight returned his beam sword to its clip on his belt. "Let's just hurry. That lifehold unit isn't going to retrieve itself."

Elma laughed from behind them. "Seriously, you two are acting like a brother and a sister would. Why don't you two ever stop fighting?"

N-Sight shook his head. "I wish I knew, but it was the same way back on Earth." He looked up at the sky as if he was expecting to see something.

Lin folded up her Gatling gun. "Oh, that reminds me: you still haven't told us your origin story yet."

N-Sight started up the trail ahead of them. "Not the time, Lin!"

Tatsu ran up behind him and bounced up and down vigorously. "Tatsu want to know why Sighty sad."

N-Sight threw his hand over his shoulder. "Again, not the time Tatsu."

Emm shouldered her longsword, following him up the trail. "Guys, don't push him to tell us. He's still sad about what he lost and isn't ready to tell us why yet."

Elma looked at Emm with curiosity. "Do you know anything about this?"

Emm winked. "Elma, if I spilled what I knew, I'd have a bounty on my head."

Elma thought it over before she finally shrugged and put the thought aside. "Alright, we'll spare you the bounty. Let's get to the lifehold unit before N-Sight decides to do something we all would regret."

The five of them ran on ahead, making their way through the marshlands of Noctilum and crossing Goblin's Narrow, passing into the northern frontier. Before they could get too far, a Tyrant of the Insidia species, Lambert the Divine Wind, burst towards them at running speed. N-Sight immediately drew his photon saber and ignited it.

"I've run into this Tyrant twice before," he grimaced. "This guy nearly killed me both times."

Emm drew her katana. "This time, you have some backup. We'll drive him off and press on."

N-Sight nodded. "Thanks. Let's do this."

N-Sight sped forward towards the charging bipedal dino. As Lambert got closer, the raptor-like indigen attempted to stab N-Sight with its large beak. N-Sight slid under the attack and slashed at the raptor's stomach, catching it off-guard and sending it staggering off-course. Emm responded by shooting a spread of five shots at it, sending the indigen toppling to the ground. Lin jumped towards the fallen indigen and dropped a small bomb, which detonated and propelled her forward slightly, forcing her to roll upon reaching the ground. Elma followed up by using her twin swords to slice off the tail of the raptor. As she moved to the indigen's rear, Lambert fired a rock from its beak at her, landing on her chest and knocking her back. Elma took a moment to recover, but as she regained her composure, the indigen's foot smacked into her side, sending her flying again. N-Sight rushed in at that moment and slashed Lambert's crest, sending the feathers on it flying in all directions.

N-Sight realized what could turn the tide of the battle in their favor. "Emm! Flaming Glass!"

Emm held her katana aloft as it burst into flames. N-Sight rushed up next to her and they both began slashing at Lambert, alternating blows and confusing their opponent. Lambert took two steps back and received a combo strike from both blades, slashing the tail off and sending him falling.

N-Sight turned to the other two party members. "Elma! Lin! Falling Scissors!"

Elma dashed forward, both blades at her side. Lin raised her shield and crouched down. Elma landed on the shield, jumping off of it as Lin forced the shield upward. Elma was sent flying into the air, proceeding to fall and land her blades in the raptor's neck decapitating the beast and sending the head rolling into N-Sight and splashing him in blue blood.

The lone dude of the team took off his glasses and wiped them clean. "Alright. I deserved this one."

Emm began laughing hysterically. "You really need to watch where you stand next time," Elma sighed, shaking her head.

N-Sight sighed, deactivating his photon sword and clipping it to his hip. He looked back along Goblin's Narrow to see that Team RWBY had arrived and witnessed the decapitation of the raptor. Yang looked on with a grin, giving a thumbs up to the goo-covered Blade. Weiss had her head in her hand, shaking it in disappointment. Blake had her usual deadpan expression. Ruby had her sniper rifle cradled in her hands, cocking back a round.

"One moment more and I could've made this a quick and clean kill."

N-Sight shook his head. "I didn't know you four were right behind us."

Elma sheathed her swords. "Let's keep going. According to the beacon, we're almost there."

Elma, Lin, and Emm went on ahead with Weiss, Blake, and Yang close behind. N-Sight and Ruby held back, just out of earshot.

Ruby leaned in towards him. "So, you don't like brutality, right?"

N-Sight shook his head. "Not really. Emm just likes to tease me about this kind of thing."

Ruby shrugged. "If you don't like the way a beast splatters all over the place when it dies, why do you only carry a photon saber? And why don't you have a ranged weapon?"

N-Sight held his blade, still deactivated, up at chest level. "I've always had an appreciation for the honor that comes with wielding such a weapon. It's a graceful weapon, focusing on precise strikes and keeping the user balanced." He clamped his weapon to his hip. "Besides, I enjoy how the sword burns the skin of my opponents, making kills less likely to splatter upon severing certain limbs."

Ruby nodded. "I don't know, ranged weapons make cleaner kills than that."

N-Sight crossed his arms. "Regardless, I never carry my ranged weaponry out in the open. I'm a bit of a special case when it comes to technology. I'll build it for others, or I'll keep it a secret and use it as a trump card."

Ruby sighed. "Are we ever going to see you fire a gun?"

N-Sight thought about it for a moment. "Not really sure. I'd be happy to give you a demonstration when the time is right, but there never is a good moment for it."

There was a moment of silence, followed by an explosion. "What was that?!" Ruby shouted.

N-Sight took off. "It's not good!"

Ruby took off after him, before they both were met with the sight of what made the explosion. Prone had found the lifehold unit first and were now firing lasers at it, trying to destroy it. There were maybe twenty of them, too many for them to take down with just the eight of them. N-Sight looked on in horror as he began to identify the other lifeforms stationed with them.

The first was a young man with spiked silver hair. He was wearing black pants with cyan power stripes and a gray shirt with black edging. There was no weapon on him, so far as N-Sight could tell, but his boots were sporting what looked like a belt of shotgun shells and tough chromium armor.

The second was an alien lifeform, more majestic in nature. She looked like another species that was superior to the Prone, maybe the Ganglion. She wore dark blue and black clothing, but her skin was a blue and purple hue. She carried no weapons, but her tentacles on her head were sparking a little all along their surface. N-Sight would have wagered that they were used in battle to stun or zap her opponents.

Elma looked on in anger but kept her rage contained. "This isn't right. We need this information for later."

Yang cocked back her gauntlets. "Let's take it back!"

Her yell alerted the Prone and their companions to the newcomers' presence. The Prone stopped firing, turning their rifles towards the intruders. The Ganglion turned towards the others, a malicious smirk on her face. The human accompanying them shook his head.

"I knew you four would try to stop this," he said, his arms crossing as he said it.

Ruby cocked her sniper rifle. "Back off, Mercury! The lifehold is ours!"

Mercury shrugged. "Who really cares about this part? It's only useless information. The real prize is the core."

N-Sight looked to Ruby. "You know this guy?"

Weiss nodded. "He's the pilot we saw yesterday: the guy who Yang dismembered in the tournament."

Blake glared at Mercury. "Weren't you in the hospital?"

Mercury shook his head. "Nope. I had robotic legs the whole time."

Yang glared at him. "Wait, that was all a setup?"

Mercury smiled. "Now she gets it."

The ganglion next to him crossed her arms. "She doesn't look like she'd put up that much of a fight." She motioned to the Prone. "Attack them now while we have the chance."

The Prone closest to her responded. "Yes, Mistress Goetia."

Yang closed her eyes before opening them, her pupils now changed into a deep red color. "Okay! You die today!"

Yang burst forward and smacked her gauntlets into the back of one Prone, sending him flying into another two and blasting all three into the wall behind them. Weiss dashed in and slashed at another before locking blades with a fifth. Blake ran forward and held off two more with her dual swords. Ruby took up her longsword and held off the eighth. Elma and Lin took on a few others, leaving Emm and N-Sight to take care of the leaders.

N-Sight looked towards his partner and nodded. Emm vaulted into the air over N-Sight, reaching the leaders faster than they could draw their weapons. N-Sight ran behind her, tapping a button on his comlink before putting it away. Emm was already fending off against Goetia, using her katana to block the electrified whip cracks. She wrapped the tentacular whips around her sword and swept her feet under Goetia, sending her falling to the ground.

It was at this time that N-Sight's upgrade arrived. He held out his right and left arms, just in time to catch two wristbands of solid platinum. Two thin green lasers burst out from them, covering his hand in plasma and giving him twin plasma blades. He ran forward, slashing through two approaching Prone and charging towards Mercury.

Mercury saw him coming, blocking N-Sight's blades with his boots. N-Sight stepped back, spinning his blades in an arc, catching Mercury off guard and sending him sprawling backward. Mercury rolled forward and leaped back to his feet, using his shotgun boots to launch himself towards his opponent. N-Sight rolled back, kicking Mercury in the chest and gaining some distance between him and the traitorous human. N-Sight shot forward and landed a clean blow to Mercury's boots, cutting his weaponry off and tossing it away. Mercury jumped away and tried to run off, but N-Sight deactivated one of his laser blades and grabbed something from his belt. He threw the small item at Mercury, landing the shot and tangling the enhanced human in a stun net.

N-Sight looked back towards the group to see Emm tossed to the side by Goetia. N-Sight deactivated his other blade and rushed after her, catching his partner before she could hit the ground. Emm felt worn out, looked beat up, and seemed kind of sleepy. N-Sight said nothing, choosing to lay her down at the foot of a tree a short distance away and stand guard.

By this point, Goetia had gained enough distance to escape. The last of the Prone had just been slain and Mercury was caught in the stun net. Ruby signaled to her team and they all put their weapons away. Elma was the only one to keep her sword out, walking up to Mercury with it held at her side.

Elma stopped, holding the sword at his neck. "Who are you working for?"

Mercury smirked at her. "And why would I answer to you?"

Elma held the sword up higher. "Because this Blade is willing to leave your cold body here where none will find you."

Mercury shook his head. "If it was any other human, you might have a threatening presence. However, I have a list of things that makes you seem cute. My boss is a woman twice as menacing as you, I am no longer afraid of anything anymore, I hate my life above all else, and I always have a way to get the job done."

With this, Mercury fired a shot from his boots at the lifehold unit. Elma saw where the shot was headed and knew that it would explode the whole unit.

"Get back!" she yelled, kicking Mercury in the head and dashing towards Lin.

As soon as she reached Lin, who had raised her shield for Elma and Tatsu to hide behind, the lifehold unit detonated, scattering debris everywhere and creating a shockwave that knocked Team RWBY off of their feet. Elma and Lin held onto the shield and braced themselves against the blast.

When the dust had finally settled, Elma and Lin dropped the shield, revealing the destroyed remains of the lifehold unit: burned out and unusable. Team RWBY had managed to land safely in the trees when they were launched upward. N-Sight and Emm weren't in her sight, but she expected them to be close by.

Elma stood up and called out, "Is anyone hurt?"

Ruby coughed aloud. "I'm okay."

Weiss dropped down and brushed herself off. "Nothing that can't be healed."

Yang broke the branch she was resting on, falling to the ground with it. "Well, no more than that."

Blake slid down the tree with her blade embedded in its trunk. "I'm fine."

Elma looked to Lin and Tatsu. "You two stay here. I'm going to look for Emm and N-Sight."

Lin nodded as Tatsu stood to shake himself off. Elma made her way through the wreckage to the forest that N-Sight had disappeared into. She noticed that a trail of dirt was going into the thicket, headed in the direction of her comrades. When Elma realized what made the trail, she was surprised at what she saw. N-Sight was holding his twin plasma blades to the side, a large metal piece to either side of him and Emm behind him, asleep at the foot of the tree.

N-Sight deactivated both blades when he saw Elma approaching. "So, the lifehold piece exploded?"

Elma nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. We could have used the information from it."

"What about Mercury?"

"He was the one that blew it up. I can't imagine that he's still alive."

N-Sight shook his head. "What a way to go."

Elma looked down at Emm. "What happened to her?"

N-Sight stooped down and picked her up in his arms, bridal style. "She may have overexerted herself, but I'm sure she'll be fine when she wakes up."

Elma shrugged. "Most likely. I'll call for an evac and they'll pick you two up."

N-Sight nodded as they started walking back to the others. "Thank you, Elma."

* * *

Team RWBY was seated in the Barracks, all four members nervous about their friend's chances. Ruby was cuddling with Zwei, who had curled up on her lap. Weiss was writing something on her comlink, but her expression kept changing with each passing minute. Blake was sharpening her weapons, making sure they were ready for their next fight. Yang remained motionless, a new first for her, with both hands clasped together and held out in front of her. No one dared to say a word until someone came in.

They all looked up when they heard the door open. Elma and Lin walked in with Tatsu bouncing behind them. Elma locked eyes with Ruby, giving her a look that said, "Not yet."

Elma sat down next to Yang, across from Ruby. "Emm will be fine, but she needs some time to recover. N-Sight is by her side as we speak."

All four huntresses let out a sigh of relief. Lin began working on dinner, something called foie gras. As the aroma began to drift around the room, Tatsu began dancing off in one corner of the room.

Ruby posed her concern to the group. "Is this going to become a regular occurrence for her?"

Elma shook her head. "I don't think so. N-Sight explained her condition and he admitted that the day's events strained her a little too much. He'll help her more in the future and hopefully relieve her stress levels."

Yang shook her head. "It seems like she didn't sleep well last night either. She had dark circles under her eyes."

Elma shook her head. "That might be one possibility, but I'll have N-Sight look further into it."

Weiss crossed her arms. "Well, what do we do now? Your team is out of commission until Emm is back on her feet."

Elma nodded. "That may be so, but Lin is still going to cook for you all when you return again tomorrow evening."

Blake held up her hand. "Wait, you may have skipped something."

Elma shook her head. "My team may be down for the count, but you all are working with Irina and Gwinn tomorrow. They wanted to spend some time with other people outside of their team and I recommended you four."

Weiss looked slightly concerned. "What's the mission for tomorrow?"

Lin called out to them from her place at the stove. "Taking out a Tyrant that showed up recently. Did you all see that mission: 'Roderick, the Fleet-footed'?"

Yang frowned. "I remember seeing it on the board yesterday, but we decided to take on another mission instead."

Elma gestured towards the blonde bombshell. "Well, Irina and Gwinn wanted to take out this new Tyrant before someone else did. Regardless, the other two members of their team happen to be out of commission as well. They asked me who they could add to their team and I offered for you all to join them."

Weiss thought about it for a moment. "I guess we could learn something from them on this mission."

Ruby clasped her hands together. "Then it's settled. Tomorrow, we'll be backing up Irina and Gwinn."

Blake frowned as she looked at Elma. "What will you be doing tomorrow, Elma?"

Elma placed a finger to her chin. "Seeing as how my team isn't up for battle tomorrow, I'll be helping out around the commercial district. There's a friend of mine who wanted some help with an inner-city task."

Blake smiled. "Seems fine by me."

Lin clapped her hands twice. "Dinner's ready!"

* * *

 **Emm: You're a jerk!**

 **N-Sight: Hey! I helped you when you fell in combat!**

 **Emm: You're still a jerk.**

 **N-Sight: What did I do this time?**

 **Emm: You haven't updated DOOM: GTOV yet!**

 **N-Sight: Okay, I get it. I'm updating it March 5th. There. Happy?**

 **Emm: Slightly, but are you caught up yet on those chapters?**

 **N-Sight: Almost. I'm going to need a few weeks to catch up, but it won't take too long.**

 **Emm: Just make sure you upload this next chapter on time, I want to see what I'll do next.**

 **N-Sight: You'll be out of the spotlight this time.**

 **Emm: What?!**

 **N-Sight: Blake and Irina will be front and center for the most part. The next chapter will focus on a side-quest from the game.**

 **Emm: You're a jerk!**

 **N-Sight: Find a new insult, Emm.**


	7. The Murderess's Deceit

**Note: This chapter, and Chapter 8 when it comes out, will be based on a side-quest that is available to accept in Xenoblade Chronicles X. Honestly, the affinity missions like this one are where all of the characterization comes into play. Please, I beg of you, read these chapters along with the main story as these side-chapters will have points that connect to the main chapters, but they can tell their own story.**

 **Let's see how Blake handles the Murderess.**

* * *

It was about a month after Team RWBY had been reunited in the events following the crash on Mira. Team RWBY had decided to spend the day separated, helping other teams or running some errands if they needed to do so. Ruby and Yang were helping an outfitter in the testing bay. Weiss thought that she could spend some time at a prestigious shop and pick up a few items for casual wear.

Blake's mistake was tagging along on this trip. So far, the heiress hadn't come across anything yet, and Blake doubted that they would within the day. Blake wasn't much help due to her focus on function over fashion, so she let Weiss continue browsing the shop on her own.

Blake sighed, exiting the shop and stepping out onto the sidewalks of the Commercial District. "What a day."

"Dragged into a shopping spree?"

Blake turned to her left and saw Irina Akulov approaching her. "Yeah. We know how Weiss is when it comes to her dresses."

Irina coughed. "Combat skirts."

Blake raised her eyebrow. "Dresses. She's getting some casual gear."

Irina shrugged. "She tries fighting in those things and you know it."

Blake shook her head, changing the subject. "Heading back to the barracks?"

Irina shrugged. "I was hoping to stop by the hangar first. One of the Interceptors has his Skell in the shop and I wanted to check in with him."

"Do you mind if I join you?" Blake asked. "I'm curious about those units in general."

Irina nodded. "I don't see any problem with it. Considering your heightened attention to detail, you may see some things that we won't."

Blake smiled. "Thanks."

And so they set out, the two of them walking in silence, a preference for Blake. It wasn't long before they reached the open ended hangar, where multiple Skell units were being repaired and adjusted. There were two types that Blake could see littering the hangar: Light-class Urban Skells and Light-class Formula Skells.

As the two women stepped through the hangar, one of the Formula Skells activated, closing its cockpit and standing up. It took two steps forward and stopped, smoke pouring out of its back. Almost immediately, the Skell knelt and popped the cockpit, letting the pilot, a tall, lanky man with long, golden hair, drop out of it and get to a safe distance where he threw off his helmet. Looking back at the Skell, he proceeded to shake his head and scratch the back of his neck.

It was then that Irina had reached earshot. "Having trouble with the final repairs?"

The golden haired Blade turned to face the two approaching women. "You would think we'd have it running quicker than this."

Irina shrugged. "Did you reverse the exhaust bypass valve again?"

The pilot shook his head. "No, but thanks for reminding me about last week." He looked back to his Skell. "I probably overlooked some faulty wiring, again."

Blake crossed her arms. "So is this the pilot?"

Irina shook her head. "My fault." She gestured to the Faunus. "This is Blake Belladonna from Team RWBY." Irina gestured to the pilot. "This is Matthias Rightgard, one of the best Interceptor Skell Pilots I know."

Matthias extended his right hand towards the heiress. "It's a pleasure to finally meet someone from Team RWBY."

Blake accepted his hand and shook it. Looking at him, she saw that he nearly towered over her by nearly a foot. His hair was almost gold, with a beard to match in both beauty and density. She could almost call it a lion's mane instead of hair on a human's head. His eyes were a royal blue, bold enough to be a leader on any mission.

"Likewise." She said, but posed a concern. "Wait, finally?"

Matthias shook his head. "I know OF you and your team, but only from Irina and Gwinn." Matthias smiled cheekily and scratched the back of his head. "They hold your team with such high regard that I almost pictured you four as elite Blades with near-superhuman abilities."

Blake didn't answer, but she glared at Irina. "Really now?"

Matthias cleared his throat. "Maybe you should discuss that with Gwinn, though. He was the exaggerative one."

Blake shrugged dismissively. "Fine. Getting back to your Skell, do you think it could be a fuel related issue?"

Matthias crossed his arms. "It may be a power diversion flaw, but the core is my main concern if it is. I may need to replace it and I won't enjoy the cost."

Irina shook her head. "It seems like you are going to need more time before you're fighting again."

Matthias nodded. "Yeah, I'll be working all night long and maybe tomorrow evening as well."

It was at this time that a loud commotion could be heard around the corner. "What the hell," Matthias began, "Is she doing this time?"

Blake placed her right hand on her hip. "She?"

Irina sighed. "Are you talking about the Murderess?"

This confused the Faunus even more. "Wait, 'Murderess'?"

Matthias placed his right hand on his forehead. "Sharon Effinger has earned herself a more carnal reputation as the 'Murderess'. She's fundamentally unpredictable and manipulative to the core."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "So why hasn't she been arrested?"

Matthias chuckled. "So far as we know, she hasn't broken any laws. From what we can tell, she's more of a temptress who calls herself 'Murderess' rather than a criminal."

Irina huffed. "Matthias, I'm going to break it up if I can."

Matthias just nodded. "Good luck."

Irina began walking in the direction of the noise with Blake following her. The two passed by a few more Skells before finding the source of the noise. On the other side of a fenced-off area, two men were in a fist fight with another man watching alongside an average height woman. The woman had short silver hair that barely reached her shoulders and pale skin. She wore a long-sleeved grey shirt and black cargo pants that were stuffed into steel boots with reinforced shin guards. Her violet eyes observed the scuffle with a hint of longing to join the fray. Blake could only guess that this was Sharon, aka the Murderess.

As the two ladies stepped forward, one of the combatants finally landed a hit to the other's gut, sending him reeling over in pain. The Murderess stepped forward, clapping slowly for the winner.

"It looks like we have a winner," she said, clearly not caring for the fallen Blade. "And a fine one at that."

Blake stooped down and helped up the fallen Blade. "Take it easy this afternoon. A blow like that should be harder to overcome."

The Blade nodded and limped away, holding his gut. Blake turned back to Irina, who had gotten into a small argument with the Murderess.

"It's just like you to torture potential partners," Irina accused.

Sharon scoffed. "There's no such thing as partners in my group. I had an opening and these two tried out for the spot."

"In this sick sport you enjoy too much."

"Why can't you see things from my perspective?"

"Because you're sadistic, manipulative, and devious."

"All of which are in my nature."

Blake stepped forward as they both crossed arms and glared at each other. "So this is Sharon?" Blake inquired, slightly hesitant to approach the silver-haired schemer.

Irina dropped her head slightly, her eyes still locked onto her target. "The Murderess, traitorous Blade, deceitful backstabber, and number one on my revenge list."

Sharon shrugged and smirked. "Now, now, let's not form her opinion for her, Little Miss Irina."

Irina raised her eyebrow. "What did you call me?"

Blake held out her hand in an accuser's pointing motion. "Why don't you prove her wrong?"

The Murderess simply chuckled. "Why not? I'd be happy to show you my true colors and let you decide the outcome."

Blake lowered her outstretched arm. "How do you propose we do that?"

Sharon smiled. "Why don't we check the mission board? I'm sure after a few missions, we'll be more comfortable with each other."

Blake frowned. "Irina?"

Irina shook her head. "Knowing her, she'll keep asking until you accept."

Blake finally shrugged. "Why not?"

Murderess smirked slyly. "Let's head over there and find something."

Sharon immediately lead the way, Blake holding back a short distance with Irina. "Don't trust her," Irina warned her, keeping a low volume. "Keep your weapons close and expect her to betray you."

Blake nodded. "I'll keep my eyes open."

* * *

N-Sight held his sword in his offensive stance, waiting to change his stance if needed. He twitched as his opponent glared at him. This staredown wasn't very long, but it meant a lot to the two combatants. The blades they both carried were aimed to strike and N-Sight wasn't going down without a good fight.

Without warning, his opponent launched forward. N-Sight blocked the initial strike, going in for a sensitive blow. His blade was deflected by his opponent's weapon as the bout began again, block after block, with no sign of either losing their stance or momentum. It was clear at this point that the two of them were evenly matched and they both were giving their all in the fight.

Finally, N-Sight gained the upper hand, knocking his foe off-balance and throwing her to the ground. Emm stood up, holding up her hand in defeat, trying to balance herself on her katana.

"Well done, N-Sight," she said, pushing herself to her feet. "You've improved by leaps and bounds since our last fight."

N-Sight deactivated his plasma blade, clipping it to his blade as the lights in the training room let up. "I've noticed that you tried additional tactics this time, going for my arms instead of my legs and switching to a safe offensive rather than a full on strike."

Emm frowned. "I didn't hold back on you."

N-Sight chuckled. "I didn't say you did."

Emm sheathed her katana and dusted herself off. "So," she pondered aloud. "You're saying that I instinctively attacked you in a different style?"

N-Sight opened his comlink and activated something on it. "In a manner of speaking, yes." He tapped something else, which summoned a drone from above them in the training room. The drone projected a holographic video feed of their fight. "You weren't restrictive in your strikes, but you tended to focus on defending yourself more than you usually do. By doing this, you effectively prolonged the fight for as long as it was."

Emm viewed the footage again. "It seems that you were more aggressive in your offense, but you played more defensively as well. In the end, my slip up was the deciding factor."

N-Sight shrugged. "By that logic, you should have come out victorious, based on how often I slip up."

Emm shook her head. "We're on an even playing field. We both are only out there for precise strikes and quick kills. The faster we get, the better we are later on."

N-Sight turned off the video feed and put away his comlink. "I'm sure that we could be at this for hours, but I'm curious how my other designs would hold up. I haven't calibrated my entire arsenal yet, but it would take all day."

Emm shrugged. "Why not test out a few of them and recalibrate what you need to?

N-Sight snapped his fingers. "That's a good idea. Let me just-"

N-Sight was cut off as his comlink buzzed. "N-Sight! Come in!"

He pulled out his comlink and turned it on speaker. "This is N-Sight."

Irina's angered voice came from the other end. "Oh thank Mira. N-Sight! It's Irina! I need backup!"

Emm's expression fell to slight anger mixed with concern. "Where are you?"

"Noctilum! Middle Hushflood! Hurry!"

The line cut off and N-Sight took off. "Come on, Emm! I've got something we can use to get there!"

Emm sprinted after him. "It may be our only option."

* * *

Blake and Irina were crouching behind a rock near the wall. They were outnumbered 3 to 2, but the third opponent was using a Skell, making their odds of surviving nearly 45 to 1. Blake's weapons were nearly depleted and Irina was on her last two clips of ammo. It didn't look like they were going to get out of this alive.

At that moment, Blake's ears picked up another sound: some sort of small jet-based pack of some sort. Peeking her eyes back over the rock, she saw two small figures flying in on backpacks of some kind. She couldn't tell what the second one was carrying, but the first one was holding a cyan beam sword. Blake could tell that Irina's call had helped them, switching for her swords after realizing who would be helping them.

The two individuals' jetpacks deactivated, dropping the first onto the back of the skell, where he proceeded to slash through the arms and leg joints. As the second one landed, she drew a katana that was clipped to her back, slashing the guns of the two foot soldiers. She then proceeded to slam her opponents' heads into each other. Blake had barely enough time to halt her progress towards the newcomer before the opposing Skell's back exploded, dropping the hunk of metal to the ground.

The newcomers, Emm and N-Sight, sheathed their weapons, signaling for Blake and Irina to follow suit. "What happened?" N-Sight inquired, reaching down to cuff the hands of the unconscious pilot.

Irina scowled at Emm. "Guess who?"

Emm coughed into her hand. "Knew it."

N-Sight clipped a small device to the cuffs on the pilot. "The Murderess is getting trickier to handle, isn't she?"

Blake reached out as Emm handed her a pair of cuffs. "I shouldn't have trusted her."

Emm shrugged, stooping down to cuff the second blade. "We all trusted her at one point or another. Sometimes it takes time to understand someone's true motives."

Blake locked her cuffs on the third and threw the guy over her shoulder. "Let's just get these guys back to NLA."

Irina crossed her arms. "Not an easy trip back."

N-Sight tossed Emm and Blake a pair of small devices similar to the one on the pilot's cuffs. "Lock this onto the cuffs. I've called for an evac."

Emm clipped it on while Irina helped Blake with hers. "Evac?" Irina asked. "What kind of evac?"

Her answer came in with a whirring sound from above them. She looked up and saw a large metallic vehicle unlike the Skell she had fought prior. It had a long body with a claw underneath and twin propellers on each wing. N-Sight waved it down as it landed, the claw extending and picking up the Skell wreckage.

N-Sight walked up towards the cockpit. "Ozzie!"

The cockpit's windshield slid back, revealing a small, robotic head with two golden eyes on a black visor. "BEEP BOO MAI!"

"We'll need passage for three captured along with the Skell. Do you need help finding their tags?"

The mechanized head swiveled back and forth slightly. "BEE, DA MO!"

N-Sight smiled. "I'll get the rest of us in the passenger seats."

The cockpit slid back after the robot gave a quick, "MO EN DA BOO!"

N-Sight motioned for Blake, Emm, and Irina to make their way to the claw. "There's only four seats behind the claw. I'll have the magnetic field hold the unconscious guys."

Blake stepped over, following Emm and N-Sight as they stepped behind the claw, which was now cradling the remains of the Skell in its jaws. Blake looked ahead and saw four chairs with harnesses that jutted out from the aircraft, two of which were occupied by Emm and N-Sight. Blake sat down in the one next to N-Sight while Irina took the one to Emm's left. Once they had all buckled in, the magnets on the cuffed Blades had been attached to the claw.

N-Sight tapped his earpiece. "Back to NLA, Ozzie!"

Blake could make out the faint reply from the robot. As soon as she heard it, the aircraft slowly began to rise off of the ground, separating the ground beneath them by a vast distance. Blake could see the vast jungle beneath them. It spread out before her more as Ozzie brought the aircraft higher into the air.

N-Sight spoke to her through her earpiece. "Nice view, don't you think?"

Blake nodded. "It's almost… calming."

N-Sight chuckled. "You took the worlds right out of my mouth."

Blake turned to him. "Explain to me who 'Ozzie' is."

N-Sight shrugged. "He's a helper bot that I gave to the transport group. He's their fifth best evac pilot and they let me call him in for favors every once in a while."

Blake wasn't too surprised by this. "So, why did you call for his help?"

N-Sight tapped the side of his head with two fingers. "Intuition. I figured we'd need to clean up afterward."

Before Blake could ask anything else, the aircraft rocked a little more violently than usual. "Ozzie!" N-Sight hollered. "What's going on?"

Ozzie's beeps and boops came through quickly, alerting them to the indigenous attacker. "Well," the blade replied, tapping his backpack. "It could be worse."

Emm looked towards Irina. "Stay here. N-Sight and I will handle this."

Irina crossed her arms. "It's not like we have any choice."

N-Sight shook his head. "We'll see you back in NLA."

The two combatants proceeded to release their safety straps and drop out of their seats. As they dropped, their jetpacks roared to life, propelling them after the attacker: a Telethia-based opponent.

N-Sight tapped his glasses, learning the name of this tyrant. "Josiah, The Jaded."

Emm drew her katana. "We only need to get its attention and protect the crew."

N-Sight's plasma sword ignited. "Agreed."

Bursting forward, the two combatants clipped the gigantic creature's wings. Josiah roared in pain, leaping off of the aircraft and lunging towards the flying blades. He missed, soaring past them and receiving a slash to his back from both attackers.

Josiah turned, glaring at N-Sight, locking eyes with the determined blade. N-Sight muttered something under his breath. The indigenous creature nodded and dropped out of the sky, gliding to its roosting place beneath the trees of Noctilum's dense forest. Emm looked like she wanted to pursue it, but N-Sight held up his hand.

"No," he ordered. "It was only looking for food. We don't need to fight it off any further."

Emm sheathed her katana. "Fine. Let's just get back to NLA."

* * *

"That traitorous scumbag!"

Irina was in a fit. When she and Blake went to Eleonora to hand in the mission results, they found out that The Murderess had already collected the reward. Not only had they wasted ammunition, they had to call for evac and get backup.

"Sharon did leave a message for Ms. Belladonna here."

Blake's bow twitched. "For me?"

Eleonora nodded. "She said she'd enjoy working with you or your team members again in the future."

Blake crossed her arms. "Figures she'd say that."

Irina shook her head. "My advice is to keep her away from the chaos if you can. She preys on the weak and betrays whoever she needs to get her way."

Blake shook her head. "If it's necessary, I may have to work with this vile Blade again."

Irina started walking away. "Well, at least you'll have a strong ally."

Blake turned to watch Irina's departure. Maybe she had a point. If she could fight alongside the Murderess, then she'd have a good chance of survival. Blake sighed.

"If only trust came that easily."

* * *

 **Looks like Blake's a little uneasy after that one. Don't worry, she doesn't have to work with her next time.**

 **You might be wondering why I'm doing an author's note instead of a dialogue segment like always. Truth is, I was writing the next chapter and completing school work that I forgot to write the final outro. I usually write them the day I upload, but I'm a little late on this upload.**

 **I'll have one next time, but I've already written that one out, so you're in for a treat.**

 **Those of you who read the update to DOOM: GTOV, thank you for reading both stories and leaving your feedback, whether through PMs or reviews. It really helps me get connected with you guys.**

 **Those of you who are wondering how long the alternating updates will continue, I don't have an answer, but next week, DOOM: GTOV will get a new chapter. RWBY: MW will get its next update in two weeks, the weekend before Has-Been Heroes releases.**

 **Until next time, everyone. Keep those brains thinking.**


	8. Defending the Ma-non

**To those who care about being as close to the source material as possible: This is a message for you. (Those of you who don't care, you may skip this segment.)**

 **I need to address this: Matthias Rightgard, Drax the Black Jacket, and Calinius's names.**

 **Before I wrote this chapter, I did some research. Turns out, Gwinn's third teammate is named Mathias(with one "T"). I didn't know this until after I had written both side-quest oriented chapters, so the Matthias in this story will have two T's in his name. The Ma-non you meet on the cliff do not introduce themselves, only their race. Therefore, I dubbed the engineer "Calinius", even though it won't matter after chapter 8. Drax, the leader of the prone squad a few chapters ago, didn't say his name either, so I gave him one that fit close enough to my standards.**

 **These were names out of writing too early and not referencing the source material on Wikipedia to double-check. These issues were minor, worth mentioning, but nothing too major. These will be the story-canon names, so I will continue to use them. Expect a few names to be made up for the sake of the story, but I will let you know whenever a new one pops up. This will be warned at the start of the chapter before anything happens.**

 **Thank you for reading this summary and please enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

The barracks were deadly quiet with very few noises around the area. N-Sight and Emm were on the couch, Emm leaning into him as they slept. Lin was in the kitchen area, trying not to make much noise as she prepared breakfast. Tatsu was resting in the corner on the other couch across from the sleeping Blades. Elma was at the briefing area, looking over the map of the newly discovered region, Oblivia. Team RWBY was still in their beds, sound asleep from the night prior. Zwei was undoubtedly sleeping on Ruby's bed as he usually did.

Suddenly, a loud whistle was heard in Team RWBY's bedroom. N-Sight didn't stir from his sleep, but his partner did. Emm slowly opened her eyes and tilted her head up. Seeing her friend's face she calmly closed her eyes again.

Exactly one second later, her eyes snapped back open in surprise. _Why am I asleep on N-Sight's lap?_

She bolted upright and slapped her face twice to ensure she wasn't dreaming. Her cheeks turned crimson from embarrassment. She looked him over to see that he hadn't stirred from slumber yet. Emm sighed in relief at knowing he didn't notice their arrangement.

"So," she heard from across the room. "What were you guys doing yesterday?"

Emm froze, slowly turning towards the sound of the voice. She saw Lin standing next to the stove, cooking utensils in hand and focusing on her cooking.

Emm shook her head. "What are you talking about?"

Lin tilted her head to her right. "Well, N-Sight passed out on the couch immediately after dinner and you fell asleep next to him. What happened to tire you two out?"

Emm looked over at her friend and blushed. "Nothing major."

Lin shook her head. "I hope it wasn't anything lewd."

Emm's eyes grew larger than dinner plates. "NO! Nothing like that! I swear! Nothing happened!"

Elma's voice came from behind Emm. "Lin, you know very well that they were up for five days with no sleep. You'd be tired as well having no sleep and running low on caffeine."

Emm looked over to Elma and sighed. "Thanks."

Lin shrugged her shoulders. "All I'm saying is you two make a cute couple."

"We're not a couple!" Emm squeaked. "We're just friends!"

At this point, N-Sight began to stir from slumber. He stretched his arms and blinked profusely. Picking up his glasses from the floor, he slid them onto his face with one hand while ruffling his hair with the other.

"Morning," he yawned. "What's going on?"

Lin was about to explain what happened, but one look from Elma shut her up. "Nothing really," she said, hoping Elma would be satisfied by that response.

N-Sight stood up and started walking towards the restrooms. "I'm going to shower to help wake myself up. I should be out shortly."

Emm nodded, still blushing from being caught by Lin. Elma noticed this, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," she told her teammate. "Don't worry. I'll keep Lin from saying anything about it."

Emm fanned her face with her hands as she tried to clear her embarrassed expression. "It's fine, really. Just don't tell him about it."

"Don't tell who about what?" came the cheery voice of a certain blonde bombshell.

Emm gasped as she saw Yang turning the corner, a towel in her hands as she was drying her hair. Elma chuckled as Emm tried to slowly move out of sight.

Lin turned to the newcomer. "Morning, Yang. Breakfast will be ready shortly."

Yang hungrily eyed the counter as Lin announced the meal. "Spicy Omelettes and Blueberry Muffins."

Yang gave a thumbs up. "I'll let everyone know!"

As Yang left the room, Elma turned back toward Emm. "You'll need to talk to N-Sight about what you two really are, but save it for when you're ready."

Emm sighed. "I know, but I won't be ready for quite a while."

At that moment, N-Sight's loud scream echoed throughout the Barracks. "Well," Elma chuckled. "If Team RWBY wasn't awake before, they are now."

Almost an hour later, Teams Elma and RWBY were standing around the briefing table, their nopon companion standing on the table. N-Sight's eyes were locked onto Ruby, deadpanning as he glared deep into her eyes. Ruby was slightly scared at his expression while her teammates all had wide grins that they tried hiding.

Elma cleared her throat. "Before we begin, Ruby, would you mind letting me know why N-Sight is giving you the death stare?"

Ruby remained speechless as Blake explained. "While N-Sight was showering this morning, her dog, Zwei, ran in and peed on his leg."

Emm bit her lip while Lin burst out laughing. "Wait!" Lin guffawed. "How did that happen?"

N-Sight's glare intensified. "You tell me, Crater Face."

Ruby shirked back and tried to hide a smile. "I may have opened the bathroom door and sent him in to get you."

N-Sight squinted his eyes even tighter. "You had better pray to every god you know of that I don't make it back from today's mission before you do."

Elma cleared her throat, trying to stifle a chuckle. "Well, that won't be a problem for her."

N-Sight closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Why do you say that?"

Elma tapped on the table, activating the hologram. "Both teams are heading to Oblivia. We've received a distress signal from some unidentified Xenomorphs."

N-Sight's expression changed to one of intrigue rather than wrath. "Fascinating."

Elma continued. "They appear to be under assault by the Prone, the same race we encountered destroying part of the Lifehold." She paused, looking over at Team RWBY's leader. "We're going to be working together to help these lifeforms out of their predicament."

Ruby scratched her head in confusion. "It means we'll be helping out aliens," her sister whispered.

Blake's bow twitched. "Think this could be a trap?"

Emm crossed her arms. "Unlikely, considering they didn't send the signal directly."

Elma shook her head. "Technically, we don't know for sure. Nagi wants us to see if they can be allied with us, but has warned us to defend ourselves if necessary."

N-Sight gestured towards the Nopon on the table. "Does anyone know what race they are? If these are Nopon, they could have connections with Tatsu."

Tatsu stood tall and proud. "Not likely. Nopon see technology too advanced to use. Tatsu believe these are new allies."

Lin crossed her arms. "I wonder why the potato thinks that…"

Tatsu jumped up and down on the corner of the table, getting as close to Lin as he could. "Tatsu heard that, Linly! For last time, Tatsu not potato! Tatsu is Tatsu!"

Lin held her hands up. "Just kidding, Tatsu."

Weiss placed her left hand on the table. "So our job is to assess the situation and act accordingly?"

Elma nodded. "Just as you said. We're expected to get there as fast as we can and get results, hopefully beneficial for our survival."

Ruby smiled. "What are we waiting for?" She made a fist and punched into the air. "Let's do this!"

* * *

Hours later, the two teams had made it to the chasm in Oblivia virtually unscathed, thanks to N-Sight's evasion tactics. As they looked down the seemingly endless ravine, they spied a large, tan-hued spaceship, resting deep beneath them. N-Sight pulled out two binocular-sized devices and handed one to Emm. He held his up to his eyes.

Ruby looked over at him. "What are those?"

N-Sight kept looking, not removing his sight from the ship in the viewfinder. "I've constructed these viewfinders to help me identify what we're working with."

Ruby sighed. "No cool features?"

N-Sight chuckled. "You have no idea what I put into these things."

Emm was looking out to the far side of the chasm towards the other cliff. "Elma, we've got four towers swarming with Prone and unknown robots. Some of the mechs look similar to the ones we fought about a month ago. The towers themselves seem to have large anti-spacecraft weaponry."

N-Sight kept looking over the hull of the ship. "It doesn't appear to have any turrets or defensive weaponry," he sighed, removing the viewfinder. "And those shields they have installed won't last much longer."

Elma scratched her chin as N-Sight took another look in his viewfinder. "How long do you think they've been down here?"

N-Sight looked closer at the hull. "Not too long. They've still got power running throughout the ship and it looks like they haven't taken too many hits. Still," he lowered his viewfinder again, looking at his team leader. "They won't be able to hold out against another onslaught."

Before anyone else could say anything, they heard a high pitched, chipmunk-ish voice. "Help!"

All nine of them turned to their right to see three smaller Xenomorphs, perhaps amphibian in nature, cowering in fear next to a Clay Tectinsula. The giant insectoid roared in anger, causing the smaller creatures to emit high pitched squeaks.

Elma drew her dual guns. "If we're going to try an ally ourselves with them, we'll have to drive this thing off."

N-Sight twisted his wristbands, activating the twin plasma blades they contained. "I'll draw its attention. Ruby, Yang, get those three to safety. Blake, Yang, aim for the back legs and try to stagger it. Elma, stay with me. Lin, Emm, prepare for a Heavenly Fire Flash."

Emm and Lin ran to set up for their team attack. At the same time, Elma and N-Sight rushed forward, Elma spraying ammunition and N-Sight rushing ahead of her. Ruby dashed forward, rifle drawn, stopping just in front of the newcomers, opening fire at the Clay Tectinsula. Yang was close behind her, setting herself up as a barrier between the lifeforms and the insectoid.

Yang looked back over her shoulder at the three small amphibian aliens. "Make for the large boulder behind you! We'll cover your escape!"

The three aliens looked up at her. "What about you?" one said in a squeaky voice.

"Not a good time to argue! Get to shelter and we'll do our best to protect you!"

Immediately, the three of them ran for the boulder, Ruby stepping back slowly to ward off the Tectinsula and Yang keeping her eye out for other threats. After the three lifeforms made it to shelter, Ruby and Yang took off towards them, hoping to protect them better behind the natural overhang.

By this point, Blake and Weiss had weakened the rear legs of the insectoid. Elma and N-Sight were able to draw their fire long enough, but Emm had second thoughts about the maneuver.

"I don't think I can do this," Emm said, brandishing her katana. "What if I miss?"

Lin looked down at Emm's wrist. "Did you try out that little device on your wrist?"

Emm raised her arm and noticed N-Sight's latest gift to her. "I didn't think of that."

Lin rolled her eyes. "Problem solved. Get ready!"

Emm took a few strides backward. "READY!" she called out.

N-Sight grappled onto one of the Tectinsula's front legs. "Let 'em rip!"

Emm sprinted forward. Lin knelt down onto her knee, holding her shield in springboard position. Emm planted both feet onto the shield and bounced off of it, Lin forcing the shield upwards and providing a better boost. In mid air, right above the insect's head, Emm slapped the wristband on her right arm.

Emm watched as time slowed for her, allowing her to line up her sword in the correct trajectory. She held her katana aloft and began swinging rapidly. She landed five strikes on one of the large, jaw-like pincers, three on the other, and four to the left eye. By this time, she was close enough to land on the insectoid and leap off of it, boosting back towards the group.

Once she landed, the wristband made a click, signifying time returning to normal. "I was able to damage its jaws, but it's still kicking up a storm."

N-Sight nodded, deactivating his right plasma blade. "Let's execute the Cranial Drill."

Elma ran towards him, grabbing his hand as they rushed forward. As the Tectinsula stomped downward, the small shockwave set Elma's balance off, toppling her. N-Sight let go of her grasp, unable to hold on as he charged. He reactivated his blade, boosting his speed and running right between the insect's legs.

Elma got up from her position, signaling for Lin to get closer. Lin picked up her shield and charged after her friend, holding her weapon defensively. The Tectinsula attempted to stomp on N-Sight with its front leg, but Lin raised her shield and bashed aside the appendage. N-Sight was able to plant his footing beneath the monstrous titan and launch himself upward, blades extended, drilling into the insectoid.

Elma took a few steps back, almost tripping over Emm as she stepped too close. Lin backed away quickly, clearing the area beneath the indigenous creature. Weiss and Blake rushed away from the rear legs as they fell flat onto the sandy terrain.

The beast roared in anguish before finally falling limp on its belly. As the seven Blades looked over the fallen monster, they worried for their comrade within.

Emm finally called out to him. "N-Sight? Can you hear me?"

No response. "N-Sight," Elma tried. "We need you to confirm."

Nothing. It seemed that he didn't make it. Emm's eyes began tearing up. The rest of them hung their heads, sure that they had lost their friend to the skirmish. The three aliens they saved came out from behind the rock with saddened eyes and slumped shoulders.

It was in the midst of this sorrow that a slight whir of plasma was heard from where the fallen creature lay. The party looked towards the noise as two green blades of plasma stuck out from the back of the beast. They turned around a few times before they forced their way upward, leaving a gaping hole in their wake. Out of this hole stepped N-Sight, covered in a gelatinous yellow substance that clung to his armor.

"N-Sight!" Emm yelled, rushing towards her comrade.

N-Sight turned towards his friend, deactivating his plasma blades. "Jeez, Emm! I was only inside the thing's stomach for a few seconds. You're acting like I've been dead for an hour."

Emm tossed aside her katana and tackled him to the ground. "You scared me half to death!"

N-Sight looked over to his other allies. "A little help, please?"

Elma cleared her throat. "Alright, Emm. Calm down. He needs a little breather."

Emm pulled him onto his feet. "You alright?"

N-Sight wiped goop off of his glasses. "Aside from being bathed in the guts of a sand crab? Yeah, I'm fine."

Elma sighed. "Are you going to be able to continue?"

"I don't see why not." N-Sight shook off his hands. "I'm going to be scrubbing the goo off of my armor for the next month and a half."

Behind them, three high-pitched voices cried out in celebration. "You saved us! We are indebted to you!"

Weiss crossed her arms. "And who might you three be?"

It was then that Emm got a good look at the three newcomers. They were about 2 feet each in height, bipedal with gray, smooth skin. They wore robes of a sturdy textile hybrid that covered them from their shoulders to their toes. They had large ears that hung down to about chest length and spikes sticking out from their heads.

The one in front, dressed in blue, bowed slightly. "We are the Ma-non. We came here after being attacked by an oppressive race of foreign lifeforms."

Ruby cocked her head to the side. "Ganglion attacks?"

The leading Ma-non nodded. "They are a criminal race of galactic proportions. They've had it out for us for millennia."

Elma stepped closer. "Is this what the distress beacon was for?"

"It is." The blue-garbed alien held a hand over his chest. "I am Calinius, chief engineer of our spacecraft."

N-Sight crossed his arms. "Let me guess, you need someone to help get you out of the ravine."

Calinius shook his head. "No, in fact. We need a method to take out the turrets on the towers around the ravine. Without them, we can pull out of the ravine and head elsewhere."

N-Sight shrugged. "And no weapons on your vessel can do the job."

Calinius held up his hands in response. "Exactly. We Ma-non are a pacifist race."

Ruby scratched her head. "You live in the pacific?"

Weiss stamped her foot. "No, you dunce! They prefer peaceful negotiations to violent means."

Elma nodded. "If we can help you out, why not come to NLA, our enclosed city. We could help protect you from the Ganglion if they try to pursue."

Calinius tapped his finger to his chin. "I'm sure our captain would agree, but how could you achieve that?"

N-Sight pulled out his comlink and typed up a command at the speed of sound. "I've got an idea."

Yang looked over at him. "Punching our way in seems more fun!"

N-Sight finished typing. "That won't work with these guys."

One ring later, Gwinn answered the link. "Hey, N-Sight. What's up?"

N-Sight held his hand out and silently counted items on his hand. "Who's closest to the barracks?"

Gwinn's response came immediately. "Irina and I just got back thirteen minutes ago."

N-Sight began listing his request. "I'll need a few things from my workbench. I need the yellow backpack, the pair of white titanium boots, the red briefcase with the black handle, and the black case with the white shoulder-straps."

"We'll bring them over soon."

N-Sight's call disconnected. "So," Ruby asked. "What do you need those for?"

The lone dude smirked. "I've got something up my sleeve."

* * *

 **N-Sight: This just is NOT my day!**

 **Ruby: Calm down! You just need a shower.**

 **N-Sight: Don't you DARE check on me while I do!**

 **Yang: If it makes you feel any better, I'll take Zwei out for a walk while you do.**

 **N-Sight and Blake(together): Please do.**

 **Yang: (chuckles) So, how far along will the next chapter be?**

 **N-Sight: Maybe another two weeks, but I've barely started on it.**

 **Weiss: You should be writing rather than Livestreaming on Twitch!**

 **N-Sight: Maybe, but if I'm going to complete Zelda: Breath of the Wild 100% of the way, I'll need it recorded.**

 **Emm: Alright, ladies, give him some space. He's got a stressful month coming up, so don't give him too much trouble.**

 **Ruby: I still wanna know what you needed those items for.**

 **N-Sight: You'll find out when you need to.  
**

 **Ruby: You're no fun.**


	9. Tech, Terror, and Truth

**Hello! Welcome back!**

 **I have a bit of news to everyone who follows my page here on Fanfiction. I'M BACK, BABY!**

 **...for a little while. I have a confession to make: this story was on the writer's block for almost two whole months. Yeah, I got stuck. I've written a side-chapter for next week, but today's release is for three full stories. Fire Sword: Fated Incursion, RWBY: Miranian Wonders, and DOOM: Grim Tales of Vale all have a chapter that was added today. If you're interested in checking those out, I'm proud of today's update and I'm happy to share them with you. I can't promise that updates will continue at a weekly pace, but I'm writing all this week on these three stories whenever free time permits itself.**

 **I've gone on long enough. Enjoy!**

* * *

The sound of a distant engine roared across the sands as an All-Terrain Land-Roller (AT-LR) pulled around the bend. The dust around the vehicle kicked up, creating a huge cloud of debris all around it. The driver, Gwinn, was forcing the vehicle to its limits, trying to get to his friend quickly. Irina was in the passenger seat, holding one of the four delivery items in her arms.

As he rolled into view, he drifted to a halt and jumped out of the driver seat. Gwinn grabbed the briefcase behind his seat while Irina hopped out with the large black case with black shoulder straps. Gwinn opened the latch to the trunk and revealed the other two items: a set of silver and white colored boots and a large yellow backpack with black straps. N-Sight stepped up to the trunk and lifted the last two items from it, slinging the backpack over his shoulder and holding the boots in hand. Turning to the group, he motioned for Team RWBY to step forward.

"You ladies are going to love these bad boys."

Ruby stepped forward, unsure of his intention. "What are these for?"

N-Sight smirked. "May I introduce you to my latest Prototypes, the Salvations of Vale."

Ruby looked over to Irina. "Do you know what he means?"

Irina shrugged, setting the large box on the ground. "It's something he made recently."

N-Sight handed the boots to Weiss. "Each of these items are based off of your abilities Nagi detailed me about. Snow Angel, you may like these."

Weiss graciously accepted the gesture, slipping on the boots before tightening the clamps on them. They were surprisingly light, and their sleek design allowed them to feel natural and elegant, despite their extended height. Weiss tapped them to the ground, getting a good idea of how they felt.

Weiss looked back at the genius. "Okay, I don't get what they do."

N-Sight smirked. "You haven't noticed?"

Weiss took a step forward, then began sliding across the ground slightly. "What the-"

N-Sight chuckled. "The Glacial Greaves. They allow the user to slide across the ground similar to an ice skater on the rink."

Weiss was thoroughly impressed. "These should change up my attack routine for the better."

N-Sight snapped his fingers. "And they'll allow you to keep up with your team."

Blake stepped towards Irina. "Is this for me?"

Irina opened the box in question. "What's inside it is."

Blake looked for herself. Inside were two black wristbands similar to N-Sight's, and a solid black, metallic belt with a purple flower on the buckle.

Blake took out the belt. "Really?"

N-Sight chuckled. "It does way more that you'd think it would. The belt in your hands is intended to conceal the individual or make a visual copy of the user nearby. The wristbands allow you to create a more physical copy and control it."

Blake looked over the two items. "Do they have a name?"

N-Sight nodded. "They're called the Midnight's Temper."

Blake smiled at him. "Thank you. I'll use it well."

N-Sight turned to Yang. "For our blonde bombshell, I have the Lionel Shield." He slid the backpack off of his shoulder and handed it to her. "Once active, it deploys an invisible shield that absorbs projectile-based damage and turns it into extra power for the user. Having this will essentially be the same as your semblance."

Yang shrugged. "Why would I use this when I have my semblance?"

Ruby looked at her sister with a concerned look. "No, you don't."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Ruby frowned. "We don't have our semblances. They won't work here."

N-Sight nodded. "While I can't replicate everyone's Semblance, I was barely able to recreate Yang and Blake's. Ruby and Weiss will need to go without them for now."

Yang nodded. "Good to know that I can still kick some butt!"

Gwinn handed Ruby the briefcase. "I have no idea what this guy does to get these things made."

N-Sight sighed. "Forty hours in the lab each week, forty hours as a Blade."

Weiss shook her head at that. "That can't be healthy."

Ruby opened the case. "What did you make for me?"

N-Sight didn't let her see before he started explaining. "That is the Rose's Wilting Sorrow. Forged it myself. This little device is unique in its own way, but you'll know what to do when you need it."

Ruby took it out. It was a small set of wristbands, this time colored to match her desired palate. They each were just Ruby's size and they clamped onto her wrists perfectly.

Ruby smiled. "Thanks, even though I'm sure we won't need them."

N-Sight shook his head. "Nonsense. With what these Prone are capable of, we'll need the extra help if we get into a bind. However, don't use it until absolutely necessary."

Ruby nodded. "What's the plan?"

N-Sight grinned. "Here's how we do this."

* * *

Atop one of the towers, two Marnuck Soldiers were keeping watch over the canyon below them. Both were lowly grunts, but they had high hopes for the rewards involving their current job. One of them, Ma'arv, was slightly apprehensive about everything. His buddy, S'ven, was relaxed, hiding his excitement at the job assigned.

Ma'arv finally spoke up. "S'ven?"

S'ven nodded. "Yeah?"

Ma'arv held his rifle outward, yet down and off toward the canyon. "Do you ever wonder… why we're here?"

S'ven scratched his head in confusion. "Do you mean metaphysically?"

Ma'arv shook his head. "I mean, why are we assigned here on this tower?"

S'ven shrugged. "We're just doing a job: shooting down enemies of the Ganglion."

"Well, yeah, but why aren't we invading the ship itself?"

"Better to destroy than recover?"

"But they're defenseless. If we wanted to, we could claim all of their technology and force them to work for us!"

S'ven thought about it. "You have a point. We're already at a technological advantage over the humans, so why not get an even larger boost by taking the Ma-non ship?"

Ma'arv nodded. "Essentially, we would eliminate the humans' one counter to us they could get."

S'ven shrugged. "Either the commander isn't thinking correctly, or he's got something else planned."

Ma'arv shouldered his rifle. "Hey, you mind taking over the rounds real quick? I'm going to go tell Drax what we've agreed upon."

Before either could say anything else, two quick plasma bursts went off. Both Marnucks' heads exploded and their bodies fell to the floor. As the two thudded on the metallic floor, a specific human began to appear as her invisibility cloak wore off. The human quickly tapped her earpiece as she pulled a few small, magnetic explosives from her pouch.

"Tower 1 is neutralized. I'm setting the charges now. How about you guys?"

Yang's voice replied through the earpiece. "Tower 2 is ours, but we're taking the heat!"

N-Sight chuckled. "I've cut the power source to Tower 3 and it's set to blow."

Elma's voice echoed her station. "Tower 4 is taken care of."

Blake shook her head. "Everyone meet up near Tower 2 so that we can get the rest of you all out of the fray."

N-Sight clicked his tongue. "Hurry back, Blake. Your partner needs you."

Blake nodded before placing the charges near the base of the turret. "Don't worry about me. I'll keep to the shadows."

* * *

Yang kept up her fire as Weiss rushed to her position. Yang was firing from behind a large crate that gave her a good amount of cover, but only could shield up to three people at once. As of right now, she might not be able to hold out for very long. Weiss skated past two Marnucks, tapping buttons on small ether grenades on their belts. As they focused their aim on the ice princess, the grenades exploded, sending both Marnucks flying in opposite directions from each other and burning their sides with the ignited energy.

Weiss managed to slide behind the crate where Yang was firing from. "There's about thirteen left. I won't be able to try that maneuver again." She looked over to the blonde bombshell's guns. "Judging from the looks of it, your guns are nearly depleted."

Yang shook her head. "I've got some spare clips left. I'll be fine." Yang ducked down behind the massive box as plasma blasts whizzed by. "What's our chance looking like?"

Weiss shook her head. "Not good, at least for now."

Yang shrugged. "Good enough for me." She tapped the button on her shoulder strap and a slightly golden aura surrounded her. "Time to test this bad boy out!"

Yang dove out from behind the box, both guns firing in succession. A few stray plasma bursts hit the shield around her and were absorbed by it. As the shield nullified the blasts, Yang felt a slight boost in energy from the shield. Yang rolled twice and sprinted off, switching clips and emptying them into the nearby Marnucks. Her shots hit dead center, instantly felling the offensive force where they stood. When only four remained, Yang slid to a stop, sliding her guns into their holsters.

Two of the Marnucks shrugged. In response to the human's peculiar motion, the Marnucks all stowed their blasters and drew different melee-styled weapons. Yang cracked her knuckles and took up a brawler's stance as all four aliens charged towards her. Yang waited for them to get within range of her before leaping into the air, cocking her gauntlets back and smirking at their futile attempt at fighting her. She dove towards the ground, sending her fist slamming into the face of a Marnuck, crushing his head and sending him flying from the impact. The three others were stunned by the punch, leaving Yang enough time to smack her fists into another one and launch him across the desert.

The two remaining Marnucks recovered from their surprise, both brandishing their swords, one plasma blade and one metallic blade, before charging at the blonde bombshell. Yang readied herself for their attacks, but before they got close enough to strike, two loud shots rang out. The Marnucks both instantly dropped to the ground, their heads hollowed out by a smoldering plasma burn.

Yang looked up to see Emm's pistol smoldering from the plasma bolts. "I thought you could use some help," the newcomer stated.

Yang smirked at her. "I could've taken them."

At this time, Blake, N-Sight, Lin, and Elma were all reaching the group. "Any signs of those alien scum?" Emm greeted.

As Weiss stepped towards the group, Elma replied. "None that pose a threat or noticed anything about our presence."

Weiss looked around at them. "Are all of the towers set to blow?"

N-Sight nodded. "All charges are accounted for and set to blow on my mark."

Yang smirked. "We did this faster than I expected."

Weiss immediately gasped at that. "Speaking of speed, where's Ruby?!"

Emm shrugged. "She was just behind me a few minutes ago…"

At that moment, Ruby's voice came through their earpieces. "Where are you guys?! I may need some help!"

N-Sight answered her. "We're at Tower 2. Where are you?"

Ruby's reply came through in raspy breaths. "I'm not too far from you guys. Be ready to fight when I get there!"

Weiss looked surprised. "Ready to fight what?"

Her answer was, indeed, right around the bend. Ruby sped around the bend about a hundred yards away, hoofing it as fast as her body could go, but not nearly as fast as she could with her semblance. Trailing her were two large black flying robots, each sporting some plasma cannons, and a 150 foot tall Vigent Tyrant. While the two ganglion robots wouldn't be a walk in the park, no one was thrilled to see a Vigent out here on Oblivia.

N-Sight instantly recognized it. "Crap! That's one Tyrant I'd rather not fight!"

Elma grimaced as the group got into combat positions. "Care to enlighten us?"

N-Sight twisted his plasma-bracers and activated the blades. "This thing is Barnabas, the Despot. He's taken down advanced Skell units on a weekly basis. We normally just run away if he gets too close, but we're going to need to fight it if he gets too close."

Yang popped her knuckles. "Bring it on!"

N-Sight held up his hand. "He may have noticed Ruby, but he seems to be focused on the Ganglion Skells. If we can force them into a fight, we may be able to flee while they're preoccupied."

Emm shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

N-Sight tossed a trigger to Blake. "Blake, that trigger detonates the towers. Pop that down once we're clear of the area. Emm, you and I are going to be bait. Everyone else, run while you can."

Weiss widened her eyes at his command. "Who are you to order our team around like this?!"

N-Sight sighed. "You're just NOW not okay with that? We've enacted this whole mission with me as the designated leader. Or are you volunteering to be bait, heiress?"

Elma shook her head. "No time left. Good luck, you two."

At that, the five members rushed off, leaving Emm and N-Sight alone as Ruby rushed towards them. "Ruby, did you hear the whole thing?"

Ruby replied hastily, but kept running. "Yeah, I got it. I'll leave these to you."

N-Sight leaned towards Emm, who had drawn her katana. "So, do you think 'Flaming Glass' will do the trick, or should we wing it?"

Emm shrugged. "Just wing it. These guys aren't too tough, but if we make ourselves a threat, they'll shoot on sight."

N-Sight nodded. "Took the words right out of my mouth."

* * *

Team RWBY, Elma, and Lin were able to reach the Manon, letting them know they would be able to fly shortly. Once the Manon retreated to their ship, the comlinks all went off.

"BLAKE!" N-Sight shouted through the headsets. "BLOW THE TOWERS!"

Blake winced from the sharp voice. "On it!"

Clicking in the trigger, all four towers blew up in a plume of fire. In the midst of the explosion, N-Sight and Emm emerged using their flight packs to cross the terrain quickly. Behind them, the Vigent was in hot pursuit, but his sights were set on Emm.

Ruby spotted this first. "Emm! He's on your tail!"

Emm looked back over her shoulder, but only in time to see the Vigent's auburn fist fly into her chest, launching her the rest of the distance towards her friends. N-Sight ducked as the Vigent swiped at him and managed to avoid getting thrown. At this point, Barnabas gave up on fighting him and ran back to his territory.

Emm rolled four times when her body hit the ground, her right arm clenching her left shoulder. "Elma! Lin! Help!"

Elma rushed over and righted Emm where she lay. Emm's arm had been ripped from its socket, laying next to her on the ground. Slow spurts of a blue liquid came from the gap in her torso. Electrical sparks were covering the hole and her eyes were clenched in pain. Team RWBY stood shocked by what they saw. Lin and Elma knew what they were looking at.

Elma took action. "Lin! Call for evac! We need a sealant patch and a replacement left appendage."

Lin quickly typed in orders to NLA as N-Sight landed. "How bad is it?" N-Sight asked.

Emm winced at him. "I'm not...dead...not yet…"

N-Sight rushed over and fished out something from his belt. "Crap! I knew that was a bad idea!"

Ruby stepped forward. "What's going on?!"

N-Sight spun his head to face her. "Ruby, I'll explain later, but I need your team's help!"

Yang's eyes went wide. "What can we do?"

N-Sight looked at her with a commanding presence. "I need the repair parts inside your pack. Hidden compartment."

* * *

Team RWBY was standing outside of the Mimeosome Maintenance center. All of them were concerned for their friend and stunned by the revelation they had previously witnessed. Weiss had her arms clenching her chest, scarred by the prior occurrence, with Ruby looking down at her partner's hands, unsure of how to comfort her. Blake was gripping her left wrist with her right hand, nervous about whether or not her curse had followed her here. Yang was currently pacing back and forth anxiously, her anger at herself nearly consuming her inner thoughts, but her judgement told her that getting angry would rile the team up for the wrong reasons.

After what seemed like an eternity to them, N-Sight stepped outside, Elma and Lin remaining in the facility and Emm most likely still in the sickbay. "We're lucky that Emm can take a beating worse than that and still keep kicking. She'll be back in action in a few hours."

Ruby sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."

Weiss stamped her foot down, an angry glare replacing her concerned expression. "Don't give me that crap! Something's afoot and I'm going to find out what!"

N-Sight crossed his arms. "I suppose after today's events, you four deserve the truth."

Blake's bow twitched. "What truth?"

N-Sight nodded. "You four may be the last huntresses of Remnant, but there's more to the survivors than you may realize. In short, we're not human, or Faunus in your case, Blake."

Blake glared at him. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

N-Sight quickly raised his arms in a defensive gesture. "Nothing of the kind, my friend, but we're not exactly organic, if you get it."

Weiss managed to catch on. "You mean you're all robots?"

N-Sight shook his head. "Close, but we're more or less human minds within robotic shells. You four aren't exactly organic either, but your bodies are being kept aboard the White Whale's life support system in the Lifehold."

Blake pondered the special treatment. "Why are our bodies kept aboard the Lifehold?"

N-Sight scratched his chin. "Something along the lines of not being able to fully replicate your bodies or something. I'm not quite sure what it was exactly, but due to the nature of your stasis aboard the lifehold unit, your mimeosome bodies are connected to it via a long-range transmitter."

Yang placed her hands on the sides of her head, shaking it back and forth. "This is a lot to take in!"

N-Sight nodded. "I know. It's why only certain people in NLA know about this."

Weiss crossed her arms. "Limited resources from earth?"

N-Sight smirked. "You catch on faster than I expected. Still, your real bodies are being kept in stasis by the lifehold itself and our mimeosomes are connected to it as well. If it runs out of power, all of the human race dies out in a matter of minutes."

Ruby started biting her nails. "So, if we don't find the lifehold…"

N-Sight glanced at the tower. "The percentage shown on the tower is a display of how much power remains available to the lifehold unit. Once that reaches 0%, humanity has met its final hour."

Blake closed her eyes. "In other words, we need to find the lifehold to save us from extinction?"

N-Sight frowned. "Or at least find it before our enemies can destroy it."

* * *

 **Elma: Why do you keep those replacement parts in Yang's pack?**

 **N-Sight: _Repair_ parts, not replacement parts. They're in case something like this happens.**

 **Lin: She'll be up and running by next chapter, but she won't like her vulnerable disposition.**

 **N-Sight: I'll talk to her. She'll be back to her usual self soon.**

 **Elma: Good luck.**


	10. Covering For Rightgard

**Welcome back, everyone!**

 **Why am I posting this on a Sunday? Easy: Fire Emblem Warriors is addictive beyond comparison and I've been playing all day Friday and Saturday. I had this chapter completed before the Hiatus, so not much is changing here.**

 **Expect a new chapter for Fire Sword: Fated Incursion next, but if it isn't out by Friday, it should be out on Saturday.**

* * *

"Any malfunctions yet?"

Matthias had requested help from Gwinn in order to fix his Skell quicker. Gwinn was monitoring the Skell's readings while Matthias was piloting it, running tests on the equipment itself. So far, Matthias had his hopes up for how the Skell's test results would end up. The Outfitters had let them use the training room to test the Skell's functionality at Matthias's request and after they had some time open for them to use.

Matthias looked over the cockpit's controls. "Nothing out of the ordinary. It looks like the Skell itself is operating at maximum potential."

Gwinn nodded. "How about the weapons?"

Matthias input his command. The Skell moved with his direction, reaching over to the shoulder mounted sword. It grasped the handle and swung it forward. Once it finished the maneuver, the Skell returned the sword to its place on the right arm. Matthias input the next command, making it move its left arm and grab the assault rifle on its hip.

Matthias grinned. "It looks like we're almost finished here. All that's left is to test the shields."

Gwinn tapped something on his control panel, releasing two small aerial probes with small ether pulse guns attached. Matthias responded by inputting another command. The Skell brought up its right arm and activated a blue reflector shield. Gwinn forced the probes to attack, shooting two shots immediately at the shield. Upon hitting the shield, the ether bolts flew right back at the probes, colliding with them and sending them to the ground. Gwinn ran out from behind the control panel and grabbed the small flying robots as they fell.

Gwinn looked them over for signs of damage. "A quick recharge and they should be up and running again." He turned back to Matthias in his Skell. "All systems go?"

The Skell stepped forward and knelt on one knee, releasing the hatch with Matthias inside. "Absolutely," he said, dropping out of the cockpit. "Thanks for the help, Gwinn."

Gwinn shrugged, smiling a sheepish grin. "I'm just helping another friend out anyway that I can."

Matthias laughed. "Take more pride in your work, Gwinn. You helped me get back out onto the field. It's worth more than I could ask for."

Gwinn shook his head. "This was all you. I just wish we could get some more testing out of the Skell itself."

Matthias smiled at his comrade, looking past him towards the doors to the training facility. "I have a feeling that we'll get the chance."

Gwinn turned to see who he was talking about. Walking towards them from the entrance was none other than Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long. Ruby had upgraded her armor for the scarlet colored Reigner Mark II, designed to be sleek and evasive in combat, yet concealed as much skin as possible. Yang, on the other hand, had donned the gold-based Ignition Mark III armor, designed to focus on offensive measures and aggressive strikes, but left her neck and upper arms exposed. Matthias had his eyes on Ruby's huge grin at the Skell, while Gwinn was focused on Yang's seductive smile.

Matthias noticed this and let out a hearty laugh. "Gwinn, you have a lot to learn."

Gwinn shook himself out of his paralysis. "I wasn't looking! I swear!"

Yang and Ruby both burst out laughing, Matthias following shortly afterward. Gwinn blushed in embarrassment. Yang wrapped him in a large bear hug. "I didn't know you liked the girls, Gwinneth Paltrow!"

Ruby laughed even harder. "That's priceless! I'm penning that nickname for you."

Gwinn scowled. "Try me, Craterface!"

This shut the huntress up quick. "Hey!"

Matthias chuckled slightly from the nicknames. "What's with this 'Craterface' nickname?"

Ruby blushed. "On my first day at Beacon Academy, I almost exploded a hole in the school by sneezing."

Matthias shook his head. "First impressions are usually the hardest."

Ruby looked up at the new face. He towered over her, royal blue armor and golden accents. His hair, beard, and goatee all connected and formed a massive lion-esque mane. He wore the royal blue and golden recolor of the Unbroken Mark V armor, designed to prioritize strength and defense over all else. Ruby could see that he carried a longsword on his belt and a raygun on his back, which looked more like a rocket than a gun.

Ruby finally stopped staring when she heard him say something. "Gwinn, would you fill me in?"

Gwinn snapped to attention. "This is Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long from Team RWBY."

Matthias grinned. "The sisters, then." He extended his hand towards Ruby. "Matthias Rightgard, Team Leader for my Interceptor squadron."

Ruby shook his hand, wincing from his strength. "Nice to meet you."

He let go, reaching out toward Yang, who pulled him into a bearhug. "You need to learn this, Matthias. I'm a hugger."

Matthias chuckled. "Not my usual forte, but I'll adapt."

Yang let go. "You're the first one to not squirm from my hugs."

Matthias frowned. "From pain?"

"Yep."

Matthias shook his head. "You'll have to try harder."

Ruby looked over to his Skell. "Are you testing some new weapons?"

Matthias shook his head. "My Skell was badly damaged a while ago and I had to run some calibration tests."

Yang crossed her arms. "We've just finished our team's tasks for today and wanted to do some on our own."

Matthias thought about it. "Come to think about it, maybe you two could help."

Gwinn's comlink buzzed. "It's Irina. I have to go."

Matthias gestured for him to go ahead. "Go on. I'm sure she'll need your help."

"Thanks Matthias." Gwin then rushed out of the facility.

Yang popped her neck. "She's got him on a leash for this whole week."

Matthias shook his head. "Anyways, I need some help on a mission I've been assigned."

Ruby pulled out her Hecate III and cocked it. "What's the mission?"

Matthias crossed his arms. "My group was charged with taking down a local tyrant and in the process lost my Skell's raygun. Furthermore, I had to replace the power core and rebuild a few parts."

Ruby cocked her head to one side. "I thought you said the Skell was repaired now."

Matthias nodded. "It is, but the tyrant is still out there. I would bet that someone's tried taking it down again, but they may have failed in the process."

Yang popped her knuckles. "So, you want us to help you defeat it?"

Matthias snapped his fingers together. "Bingo."

"Which tyrant?"

"A troublesome Forfex by the name of Agil, the Insurmountable. He's been attacking a nopon village in Noctilum and leaving their wares in a mess."

Ruby shouldered her rifle. "What are we waiting for?"

Matthias nodded. "It's not so simple. While I could drive over there in my Skell, you two would be forced to run all the way there."

Yang shrugged. "So we're calling for evac?"

Matthias shook his head. "I could see about getting you two some installed handles to ride on the back, but-"

"That won't be necessary," a familiar voice called from behind them.

The two huntresses turned to see N-Sight standing behind them, holding two small devices that looked like gas-powered nailguns. "I've got something for you two."

Ruby's eyes gleamed at the gifts. "What did you make this time?"

N-Sight hoisted one of the handguns into the air. "Introducing the Mark V Grappler. It uses a newly designed beam that allows for gripping onto any metal object without interfering with its electronic circuits."

Ruby grabbed the other one from him, firing it upward and sending a thick beam towards the roof, grasping onto a support beam. She pressed a button on the side, boosting herself upward, where she hung from the ceiling. "This is SO COOL!"

N-Sight handed the other one to Yang. "This goes along with another item. Do you remember those rounded shields they had you test last week?"

Yang took the grappler from his extended hand. "Yeah, the ones that reflected bullets to other targets?"

N-Sight pulled out a pair of those same shields, which were steel-plated and smooth to the touch. "They were added to the weapons console two days ago. Emm helped me test a theory with these things."

Yang could not have prepared herself for what he showed her. "There were two straps that looked like they attached to your feet."

Yang picked up on of the shields. "You're saying that we can surf on top of the ground by putting these on our feet and grappling onto the Skell while it's moving?"

N-Sight nodded as Ruby dropped from the ceiling. "That sums it up nicely, yes."

Ruby grabbed the other shield from N-Sight. "This is SO AWESOME!"

N-Sight looked over to Matthias. "I just need to see your Skell to check on where they can place their beams."

Matthias gestured towards the Skell. "Go ahead and help yourself. We'll leave when you've finished your tutorial on this."

* * *

It didn't take them long to figure out the basics, so they set out only fifteen minutes later. Matthias had his Skell in drive mode, allowing him to travel faster to Noctilum. Ruby and Yang found that if they grappled onto the cannon on his back, they could spin around him on their shields in combat. Matthias enjoyed the idea, but he wasn't so sure of how it would work for their fight against Agil.

As they traveled across Noctilum, Ruby began surfing left and right on the shield. She slid across tree stumps, used a few Tirkins as springboards, and slid across the water with ease. Yang was doing the same, but she was using larger indigenous creatures as ramps. Yang got twice as much air time as Ruby did, making her younger sister's eyes light up with ideas.

Finally, they reached the grounds where the Tyrant lived. Matthias changed his Skell into combat form and the huntresses began circling him on their shields. Ruby grabbed her sword with one hand while holding the Grappler in the other. Yang managed to deactivate the Grappler at the right angle to fly right at the forfex. She raised the shield as she drew nearer, bouncing off of the Tyrant's shell and denting it. She flipped backward and slid next to Matthias's Skell, which had already drawn its rifle and opened fire.

Yang stepped off of the shield and drew her guns. "So," she asked Matthias through her comlink. "What's the plan?"

Matthias reloaded the rifle on his Skell. "This guy is susceptible to staggering. If you can catch him off balance, I can bind him with my Skell. If you knock him off-balance, we'll have a clear opening."

Yang nodded. "It's time to kick things off with a YANG!"

Ruby was still spinning around the Skell, still grappled onto the cannon. She surfed around the two Blades and brought her sword into Agil's jaw, slashing off the appendage and knocking him back. Ruby slid around Matthias once more before releasing the Grappler's trigger and smacking into the Tyrant, sending the crab-like monster tumbling off of its feet.

Yang shrugged. "Or we could do that?"

Matthias shook his head inside of the Skell. "You'll need to build up momentum to pull off one of those moves."

Ruby stepped off of her shield with her hand on her Hecate III. "Open fire!"

They didn't have to be told twice. Yang unloaded everything in her clips and put away her guns. Matthias fired off a missile rack and the cannon on his back, sending homing rockets and plasma fire towards the Forfex. Agil was then able to stand and jump onto the Skell. Matthias activated his falchion on his hand, but it wasn't needed. Yang had already jumped onto the Forfex and punched it four times, enough to make it lose its grip on Matthias's Skell.

Yang then kicked it forward before rushing in for a close-quarters uppercut. "KIDO YASHI!" she roared, leaping almost eighty feet upward and crushing the Forfex's forehead with her fist.

When she landed, Ruby had her sniper rifle lined up for a headshot. "I've got it!"

The shot connected, piercing the shell and passing through the other side. The Forfex blew apart, spraying blue goop all over the two huntresses and the Skell.

Ruby wiped the goop from her eyes. "Yuck. Now I know how N-Sight feels."

Yang shook herself off. "You could say this was a STICKY situation!"

Matthias stepped out of his Skell. "Is this a one-time thing, or do you have a habit of making puns?"

Yang shrugged. "It's a habit. Don't be so CRABBY about it!"

Matthias shook his head. "I'm getting too old for this sh-"

Yang snapped at him. "LANGUAGE!"

Matthias shrugged. "English."

Ruby had to laugh at that one. "I'm writing that one down when I get the chance."

Matthias looked over to the downed Forfex. "Now that this is over with," he turned to face the two sisters. "Let's get you two cleaned up."

Ruby cocked her head to the side. "You mean you have a water hose built into that Skell?"

Matthias had to laugh at that one. "No, not this one." He pointed back towards the cavern behind him. "We can wash off at the Nopon Village near the water."

Yang pretended to tip a hat towards him. "Then lead the way, Matthias."

* * *

Back in NLA, Weiss was working with Leroy, Mika, and Lin, who were interested in learning how Dust operated. Weiss was using Myrtenaster as a demonstration tool to explain the types of offensive and defensive uses for the substance. Lin had sent a sample of each type to the labs last week, so she was expecting the results soon.

Weiss finished her demonstration and sheathed Myrtenaster. "I believe that covers everything on Dust and its capabilities. Anything else?"

Mika nodded. "I think that's interesting what it can do, but how was it originally harvested?"

Weiss popped the cartridge on her rapier. "We mine areas with large amounts of Dust crystals and refine the material to make the powder. It can then be used to power weapons, phones, or even used as an offensive weapon."

Just then, a tall man ran in wearing a lab coat and round spectacles. He was carrying a large briefcase with a clipboard in his other hand.

"Miss Lee Koo! Miss Lee Koo!" He stopped in front of Lin to catch his breath.

"What is it Arthur?" Lin responded.

"It's about your samples you sent to the lab. I've got good news and bad news."

Weiss crossed her arms. "Let's start with the good news."

Arthur adjusted his glasses. "The good news is that we found a way to recreate the same powder with materials mined here on Mira. The so-called 'Dust', you used to use, could be another type of weapon we use similar in nature to Ether."

Lin smiled. "And the bad news?"

Arthur frowned. "Refinement will take nearly a month or two and testing could take up to another two or three."

Weiss shrugged. "It's better than what I thought it would be." She looked down at Myrtenaster. "Is there anyway to speed up the process?"

Arthur looked over to his clipboard. "There is one way, but I'm sure that you won't like the answer."

Weiss shrugged. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"I'll need testers like you who know what the solution is capable of."

Weiss nodded. "What is there to lose?"

* * *

 **N-Sight: Finally, we're getting to how Dust is going to be implemented!**

 **Weiss: Are you sure we'll be able to work with this?**

 **N-Sight: Almost undoubtedly, but there are some hiccups we need to sort out.**

 **Weiss: Meaning?**

 **N-Sight: Campaign alteration for the next chapter.**

 **Weiss: And I had my hopes up...**


End file.
